Austria makes more wear helmets
Friday November 20, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

Lower Austria made it compulsory last season and now Upper Austria has followed suit.  The provincial parliament passed the new law this week.

It follows the death of a woman last winter who was hit by the German politician, Dieter Althaus.  It was a big story in Austria and caused many to buy a helmet and some areas to make it compulsory to wear one. 

Read about the accident and the background to the story here.

There was also the death of the actress Natasha Richardson in Canada that received worldwide publicity and we covered it extensively on PlanetSKI.

Compulsion or not?Not all are in favour of compulsion though.

One Upper Austrian politician, the green Party leader Rudi Anschober, said most children wear a helmet and that compulsion is not a good idea.

Parents in Austria have been made responsible for ensuring that their children wear a helmet, but it is unclear what the punishment for not wearing one may be.

See the video below for an interview with British holiday skier, Mervyn Fletcher, who bought a helmet last year for the first time after all the publicity about wearing one.

Last winter there were numerous threads and debates in chat forums about whether wearing a helmet should be made compulsory.  It would be interesting to see if views are changing. 

Here at PlanetSKI we are in favour of wearing a helmet, but against compulsion.

Please fell free to offer your views in the comment box below.

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