Fines will soon be increased for bicyclists not wearing a helmet from $71 to $319. This is really sad. Australia is so very boring.
In the Netherlands, it is not mandatory to use a helmet and yet they have the highest concentration of cyclists in the world. If I had to guess, the fact that Dutch politicians ride bicycles daily to the shops and work means they actually understand the issue.
Here in Australia, they think bicycles are toys. They expect cyclist to get out of the way of cars, councils often direct you on the footpath and even the riders themselves don’t seem to have any sense of road rules.
Riding bikes you’ll hear people yelling at you from passing cars… unbelievable. The pure ignorance around bicycles in Australia is shocking.
If you ride a bike, now you must carry photo ID or face another fine. So much for jumping on the bike and going to the beach with nothing but your swimmers. You’ll have to bring your valuables and leave them on the sand. Oh wait, that’s probably another fine-able offence.
Every month the government ladles over us more and more laws. Common sense and personal risk are not acceptable.
You are guilty if you drive with your arm out the window, you park a car with the window partly open, you walk a dog anywhere off a leash, and you’re seriously screwed if you smoked some marijuana days before getting stopped at a random roadside check point… despite having zero impairment.
So many laws; everyone is guilty of something. Basically, we are all going to be fined if the men in blue happen look our way. We hope our status; newish car, nice clothes, age and so forth will leave us unchallenged… we hope. Like wildebeest in the herd hoping the lions don’t look at us.
I’m a good guy who is being called a criminal and I don’t like it. Where does this end?
Mark Oliver, Byron Bay
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
