CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Kenneth Murnaghan doesn’t remember the accident that changed his life.
Other people had to tell the 10-year-old about the bike crash on Queen Street, a crash that erased the memory of his first 10 years.
That was 1970, but years later, Murnaghan remembers one important thing: the feeling of wanting to keep other kids from getting hurt the way he did.
That work started in the 1990s, and this summer Murnaghan and Injury Free P.E.I. are offering an information session for people in P.E.I. who get a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
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Charlottetown Police Services are working with Murnaghan to waive Highway Traffic Act fines for helmets if they agree to attend Murnaghan’s Injury Free P.E.I. class.
Police call this diversion program, which includes bikes, scooters and skateboards, Operation Headway.
“I just tell (students) that it’s important to wear a helmet,” Murnaghan said, describing some of what he and other instructors tell the class. “Like, I have scars on my head. I have two steel plates in my head from the accident. Basically, it changed my life. I wasn’t able to go out and play with the kids anymore.”
Police, fines
Local police have been running Operation Headway for decades, but it went on hiatus during the pandemic.
Now, officers are again cracking down on riders who don’t wear helmets. Charlottetown Police Services says fines start at $150 for riding a bicycle without a helmet, but that fee can be waived if offenders accept the option to go to the Injury Free P.E.I. class.
While education is the first step, Charlottetown Police Deputy Chief Sean Coombs says it can only do so much.
“We’re at a point where the people who are concerned about their safety and know that they need to wear a helmet are wearing them,” Coombs said at the July 25 protective and emergency services committee.
“Then there’s a segment of people who just have decided not to wear the helmets no matter how hard we try to educate.”
Over the years, Canadian Tire has donated helmets that police have given out “countless” times, and Dairy Queen has donated coupons to hand out as positive reinforcement for youth who do use helmets, Coombs said.
Coombs did not have information on how much Operation Headway would cost this year, but an Aug. 7 press release from the provincial government said the province is contributing $2,000 to Injury Free P.E.I. for its helmet safety program.
Logan MacLean is a municipal reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at logan.macLean@theguardian.pe.ca and followed on Twitter @loganmaclean94.
