Alberta set to introduce ATV helmet law

Alberta's transportation minister is introducingnew legislation enforcing the use of helmets on off-road vehicles.

Bill 36, An Act to Enhance Off-Highway Vehicle Safety,is expected to be tabled in the legislature Monday afternoon.

Alberta is one of the last Canadian jurisdictions to implement a helmet law for ATV riders.

"When you put a helmet law in place, the fatality rate drops by about half, so we could save three to four lives a year. It's significant," said Don Voaklander, director of the Injury Prevention Centre at the University of Alberta.

"We're really quite excited to bring Alberta up to par with the rest of the country."

According to the Injury Prevention Centre, head injury was the leading cause of death for quad riders and passengers between 2002 and 2013. There were 185 ATV-related deaths in Alberta in that periodan average of 16 per year. Of the riders who died, 77 per cent were not wearing a helmet.

Most of those who died were young men between the ages of 20 and 34, but children make up between 15 and 20 per cent of ATV fatalities.

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More than 300 children under the age of 16 were injured while riding ATVs in Albertabetween April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. Forty were hospitalized with serious injuries. Two died.

Alberta's Traffic Safety Act prohibits anyone under 14 years of age from operatingan off-highway vehicle on public land without adult supervision.There are currently no helmet requirements for quad riders travelling on public or private land.

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Transportation Minister Brian Mason announced Alberta's intention to review current safety laws last June, three days after a 12-year-old boy was killed in an ATV rollover in the McLean Creek area southwest of Calgary

Voaklander says the pending legislation is long overdue.

"About 16 people die each year from ATV collisions or accidents of some kind, but six or sevenof those are directly related to head trauma," he said.

"[Helmets] help the mitigate the severity of the injury."