Rep. Kwon Young-se of the Grand National Party plans to submit a bill to the National Assembly, requiring all cyclists to be helmeted or otherwise be fined. The move is triggering disputes among the cyclists. / Korea Times |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A lawmaker's attempt to fine bicycle users for not wearing a helmet is causing a huge stir among cyclists.
While experts agree that wearing a helmet is necessary for safety's sake, it may be too soon to impose fines in Korea, which has just started to promote the use of bicycles, they say.
Rep. Kwon Young-se of the governing Grand National Party said he will propose a bill to oblige bicycle users to wear helmets and other safety gadgets.
"Bikers in several states of the U.S., Canada and Australia are fined amounts less than $100. The amount of ours will be around that," Kwon said.
In Korea, the number of people injured in traffic accidents involving bicycles has risen about 10 percent every year between 2003 and 2007, with the number of deaths rising 4.7 percent over the period.
According to the Bicycle Safety Helmet Institute, non-helmeted riders are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than helmeted riders. Head injuries account for more than 60 percent of bicycle-related deaths, but a very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 percent, it said.
"A Samsung institute also said the global trend will move to encourage bike helmets," Kwon's assistant Lee Woo-cheol said.
European countries such as Iceland, Sweden, Finland and others have mandatory helmet laws. Lee said the submitted bill may contain milder alternatives to fines, such as requiring a certain period of safety education.
Industry insiders admit that certain regulations are needed. But whether punitive actions will work is still in question, they say.
Pable, a civic group of environmental bike lovers, expressed concerns that the fine system could make people shun bikes altogether. "It is too early for Korea," the group spokesman Oh Su-bo said. "We need more safety promotion and education at this point,"he said.
Twenty-nine-year-old Chung Sun-ae lives in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, and is a bike lover. She uses her bike when she goes to nearby libraries or supermarkets. "Yes, I agree that we need helmets. But since it is a more casual form of transportation than others, I don't want to be bothered with all the obligatory codes," she said.
The Lee Myung-bak administration has pushed green policies, including the promotion of bicycles, since the beginning of the year.
The government is planning to construct more bicycle-only roads and give incentives to cyclists in a bid to have 8 million people replace their replacing fossil-fuel vehicles with bicycles.
"It's time to think about how we are going to manage bike users as we do with automobile or motorbike users. Their safety will become a big issue, too," Kwon said.
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