BCMA credited as province passes new bike-helmet law

The British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) is receiving much of the credit for provincial legislation, effective next September, which will require cyclists to wear helmets. The BCMA Sports Medicine Committee, chaired by Dr. Bill Mackie, began its fight for the legislation in 1987.

The BCMA News attributed some of the success to an extensive public-awareness campaign that featured a "Protect Your Melon" poster. It showed a crushed watermelon, which provided a graphic example of what can happen to an unhelmeted head. The committee lobbied government and took every media opportunity it was offered to get its message across.

CMAJ January 1, 1996 (vol 154, no 1)