Opposition party Ensemble Montreal wants wearing helmets while cycling in the city law.
Opposition leader Lionel Perez says a pediatric surgeon from the MUHC supports his call for a bylaw enforcing helmet use.
Between 2007 and 2017, Montreal's pediatric hospitals treated 450 children per year for head injuries on average, and 44 per cent were not wearing a helmet. Thirteen per cent of those were diagnosed with a traumatic head injury, while the number of those wearing helmets had a much lower number of such injuries.
"We believe that through this measure, but together with other measures of awareness, of sensitization, as well as a program to offer free helmets to those that are less fortunate, we can, in fact, come together with a proposal that is win-win," said Perez.
Children from low-income families were more likely not to wear a helmet, and Perez wants to create a program to acquire helmets through donations and distribute them.
Perez does not want children penalized by the law, but rather kept safe.
Ensemble Montreal will be presenting a motion for debate at the city council meeting Sept. 16.
