Bike Helmets

[Aliantha]

In Qld, you have to wear a helmet when you're on a bicycle. I assume that's the law throughout Australia.

Today, some coppers pulled up a 15 yr old boy for not wearing a helmet, and instead of fining him, they made him let down his tyres and walk home.

Personally, aside from thinking it was a pretty amusing way of dealing with a teenager, I think it was also inventive, and gave the kid some time to think about what an idiot he was for not wearing his helmet. Yes, I personally am in favour of helmet laws and see no problem with the police taking action over it. I know our local coppers here in our little township usually just confiscate the bikes for a couple of weeks if they catch kids riding without helmets. All the parents i know support them in this choice of punishment.

Apparently though, about half of all the people who watched the news story on it tonight didn't think the police should have done anything. They thought he should just have been warned. Even his mother was on there going on about how bad the policing was. Personally I think the mother should have been fined for allowing her child to ride a bike without a helmet, and she should have been embarrassed to show her face on telly.

What do you think?