Canadian parents' attitudes and beliefs about bicycle helmet legislation in provinces with and without legislation.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to survey Canadian parents on their attitudes and beliefs about bicycle helmet legislation and to compare responses from parents living in provinces with and without legislation.

METHODS: A national survey of 1002 parents of children aged under 18 years was conducted. Chi-square tests were used to compare responses from the surveyed parents in the different jurisdictions.

RESULTS: Responses from parents living in provinces with legislation (n = 640) and without legislation (n = 362) were as follows: concern for injury (63% vs. 68%, nonsignificant [NS]); believe helmets are effective (98% vs. 98%, NS); child always wears a helmet (74% vs. 69%, NS); support legislation for children (95% vs. 83%, p < .001); support legislation for all ages (85% vs. 75%, p < .001); support police enforcement (83% vs. 76%, p = .003); believe legislation decreases the amount of time their child bicycles (5% vs. 8%, NS).

CONCLUSION: Parents are highly supportive of bicycle helmet legislation in Canada. They believe that bicycle helmets are effective and that legislation does not decrease the amount of time a child spends bicycling. There was also a high level of support for legislation across all ages, and for police enforcement.