State right to protect children by ensuring they wear cycling helmets

THOSE who like to complain about the so-called “nanny state” have been given more opportunity to vent in recent weeks.

Added to the recent Government decision to introduce a ban on the smoking of cigarette products in cars where children are present is the idea to punish parents who allow their children (under the age of 13) to cycle without the protection provided to their heads by a helmet.

The objections to seemingly very reasonable ideas have been many and varied. Both ideas have attracted criticism on the basis that they are unenforceable. Are the gardaí, busy enough as things stand, going to stop cars where children are present to check if somebody inside is smoking? What if a cigarette or cigar isn’t present, because it has been chucked out of the window? Will a smoke detector be used to monitor the air quality in the vehicle? Who will receive the punishment and what will it be? Penalty points for the driver? But what if it is the front seat passenger, adult presumably, who is caught holding the offending item, the smoking gun so to speak? Will the driver be punished for allowing the passenger to smoke?