BRISBANE TIMES, 612 ABC BRISBANE (Australia), HINDUSTAN TIMES (India)
BRISBANE – Does faith protect you in a bicycle accident?
The state of Queensland in northeastern Australia may soon find out…
This guy probably doesn’t mind – Photo: Piston Heads
On Tuesday, Australian Transport Minister Scott Emerson announced a change to Queensland’s bike helmet laws, as part of a “common sense approach” to accommodate religious beliefs — in this case, religious headwear.
“But let’s be very clear. Just because someone is going to come out there and claim they don’t want to wear a helmet for religious reasons, they have to do more than that, they have to demonstrate there is a real, long standing religious belief there,” Emerson declared on Australian radio station 612 ABC Brisbane.
Some religions should prove less problematic in the “religious headwear vs. safety headgear” conflict… – Photo: Worldcrunch montage
The law change comes after a practicing Sikh, Jasdeep Atwal, successfully fought the A$100 ($102) fine he received last year for riding a bike without a helmet — on the grounds that his religion required him to wear a turban that woudn’t fit under a helmet, the Brisbane Times reported
More than 70,000 people in Australia practice Sikhism, according to India’s Hindustan Times.