Helmet Freedom was conceived and developed by Dave Kinkead and Dr Paul Martin.

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  • Darren

    g’day Dave and Paul, congrats on your work to date fellas. My name is Darren and I’m experienced in running campaigns (public, community and political). I’d like to help on this initiative. Its something I believe in and I believe that Brisbane would be better with more people on bicycles.
    I’m also President of the West End Community Association and have been working to support ‘Safer Streets’ for a better suburb, this includes safer for cyclists & children.
    Drop me an email to see if its worth us have a sit-down chat d_godwell@hotmail.com, well done, cheers 

    • http://dave.kinkead.com.au Dave Kinkead

      Hi Darren,
      We are Brissy based so it sounds like we should catch up. I’ll be in touch soon.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670767609 Vanessa Tylman

    Hi Dave and Paul, 
    I feel very strongly about this issue and I think it is time we formed a nation-wide initiative to repeal these laws. Right now there is no association to represent and speak for the tens of thousands of people who ride bikes or would like to ride bikes without a helmet. Up until now the people who have spoken out about MHLs have done so as individuals. An organisation is always more effective. I would love to discuss this with you further. Best regards, 
    Vanessa. 

    • http://dave.kinkead.com.au Dave Kinkead

      Hi Vanessa,
      We are more than happy to have people help us out if they are keen.
      Drop me a line dave @ kinkead.com.au

  • WEEERR

    Dudes, Kristina Keneally is not the Premier of NSW.

    • http://dave.kinkead.com.au Dave Kinkead

      Yes, we need to update the database!

  • Adam

    Hey David,  Great site – good work….I’m just in the process of buying a second hand $150 dollar bike to ride to the gym when my wife has the car and I’m finding myself wondering why I don’t own a bike already…I owned a bike as a kid, owned one at uni….pretty much owned one until the helmet laws made it an annoyance…that’s about the time I said “stuff it, I’ll just drive”, which is a shame, because I like riding.

    One thing I’m concerned about is, living on the sunshine coast…..riding to the gym in the middle of the day sometimes (my job is very flexible) I’m very worried about how I’m going to protect my skin.  I certainly don’t want to put lashings of sunscreen on just before working out, and fitting a hat under a helmet seems to me to be dangerous as it pushes it down into your eyes.

    We have bike paths up here, I can get all the way to the gym without going anywhere near the road….seems silly I have to put on a helmet to travel 10km/hr for 3km down the road on a dedicated path nowhere near cars.

    Anyway, keep up the good work….I know it’s a difficult issue to keep in the public consciousness but hopefully it’ll gain some traction in 2012

    • Dave

      @cdae17573afd9243428a38caf3fadfc5:disqus ,

      §256 of the road rules relates to bike helmets and in QLD & there are 2 exemptions:
      - carrying a doctor’s certificate stating that you cannot wear a helmet for a medical reason over a specified period – a paying passenger on a three or four wheeled bicycle.
      http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Queensland-Road-Rules/Bicycle-rules.aspx
      (Not quite sure how the exchange of money makes it so much safer that you no longer have to wear one….)

      So, go to your GP with some stats in hand.  Approx 15k Australians die of obesity related illness every year & no one can be obese when riding 1hr+ per day.  Approx 2k die every year from skin cancer while only about 30 die cycling.

      The road rules state you must wear a properly fitting helmet that conforms to ASNZS2063.  That standard says no internal protrusions > 5mm, no external ones > 30mm and no modifications.  That means you cannot wear a wide brimmed hat while complying with the law.  Tell your GP you want to ride more but protect yourself from the greater evil and they should happily write you an exemption (mine did as well as many others have).  The certificate must state ‘medical reasons’ and must be for a fix period of time.

      Cheers,

  • Hatties2

    If I am not on a highway or on an area where the speed limit is over 60 km I think it should be okay to go helmet free, as is the case in Germanay.