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news
Arnold Schwarzenneger in Melbourne (source Facebook)Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled over by Melbourne police - for riding bike without helmet
Arnold Schwarzenegger is the latest celebrity to fall foul of Australia’s compulsory cycle helmet laws after he was stopped by a policeman for not wearing one while riding a bike in Melbourne.
The Terminator star and former governor of California risked a fine of A$146 by ignoring the requirement to wear a helmet, which is mandatory in Victoria just as it is throughout Australia.
Pictures showing the bareheaded star were already circulating on social media – one on Schwarzenegger’s own Facebook account, captioned “Loved to see all these healthy and fit kids when I was riding around Melbourne today!” – before police caught up with him.
But instead of fining him, Senior Constable Robert Gillson pointed the actor to a nearby 7-Eleven store where he could buy a helmet costing A$5, reports The Age.
Helmets have been made available to buy through vending machines following concerns that the law was stopping people from using the city’s bike-sharing scheme.
"I saw a group of cyclists riding ahead of me and we just went up to do a routine intercept," said the officer.
"Then we noticed that Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the crowd. We spoke to him briefly and had a little chat with him about the reason why I pulled him over."
He added: "He was very likeable and very approachable. He stated that his father was a policeman, so there was very much mutual respect there."
Senior Constable Gillson said that when he comes across visitors to the city who are riding bicycles belonging to its cycle hire scheme without wearing a helmet, he tends to explain the law to them rather than issue a fine.
Other high-profile visitors to have been caught ignoring Australia’s mandatory helmet laws in the past include Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Twilight star, Robert Pattinson.
Schwarzenegger, who has ridden a Boris bike in London with Mr Johnson, tweeted him a link to The Age’s article, saying: “Hey, @MayorofLondon, now we have something else in common.”
He was in the city for the Arnold Classic body building event and attended the weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The police officer’s comments confirm that in real life, Schwarzenegger is much more approachable than some of the characters he plays.
But to paraphrase a line from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, “I need your clothes, your boots and your bicycle. Oh, and do you have a helmet I could borrow too, please?” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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24 comments
Or he could set an even better example by refraining from sex, eating all his greens even if he hates them and staying well away from alcohol.
Ridiculous laws aside, as a role model should he set an example to the kids by wearing a helmet?
He clearly should have been immediately jailed and put in confinement in a room with no windows and bunks stacked three high for twenty years, with only 6x3' floor space, never in an exercise yard "for his own safety" as in the jails he used to run in the country of "the free", with more people in jail (especially blacks) per head than any other country.
Arnie being an Austrian was probably the reason he was at Kitzbuhel in Jan. 2014 , for the Ski races !
Moving from the VIP Cocktail Facility to the Bleachers , he was surrounded by a flying wedge of " protectors ", yet we see him riding a bike in Melbourne . Even more to the point , why was he photoed surrounded by kids ?
Even the Austrian President didn' have " security " that day , i know because i had a few minutes talking to him about " Cyclist Safety " , something that had become contentious of late , with 51 families losing Cyclist members in 2014 !
By comparison , Eire , with about half the population had 12 Cyclists killed on the roads . Without doubt Drivers in both countries deserve to be forced to relearn their driving skills !
I wear a helmet because it has my rear-view mirror attached and I can use it to hold my gloves, glasses and buff when I'm off the bike.
I hope you don't do that in Australia, because the law requires you to wear an approved helmet -- and the act of attaching anything to your helmet classifies as "a modificatioN" which renders the helmet no longer compliant with the relevant standard. Anyone with a mirror, lights or helmet camera is no longer wearing a standards approved helmet!
The $5 helmets are probably great in a crash. They pass the same tests but probably by the widest margins, because that is cheaper than making helmets very precisely to allow more vents while still passing tests. $1 helmets would b the best!
Having bought one in Melbourne the Aussie $5 helmets are surprisingly decent. Much better than the budget Halfords ones but of a similar style.
My helmet always go where I go, but it wont stretch that high up to fit on my head
Boom boom!
I made a helmet out of a small potato for an action figure when I was a kid. Ironically, I cut my hand quite badly in the process of making it but the action man was fine in his new helmet. Until it eventually went mouldy.
If you were really concerned about your head you'd wear a motorbike helmet. So, cycle helmet advocates, why don't you?
When I use a helmet (nearly all the time, always off road) it's a trade-off for me. I want some protection from scrapes and surface injuries, and a modest protection against deceleration, and for it to be light, well-ventilated and comfortable (to the point that i'm generally not aware of it). I would like to use a MIPS enabled helmet, as the science around the effect of tangential cranial impacts makes it a potentially useful feature, but there is a cost associated with that. For off road, i'm less concerned about weight (neck support) and more interested in protection against penetration and edge strikes - so more closed and more rugged.
I fully accept that if I have a full-frontal argument with a van then in all likelyhood it's going to make to fuck-all difference - but that's not why I wear one.
What about you ?... or are you an all-or-nothing sort of person ?
"A routine intercept" and then he noticed Arnold?
So the Police in Australia harass cyclists as well? It is for our own good apparently, we keep getting in the way of drunk, speeding motorists
Seeing him without a helmet, he's not as tall as I thought
Good to see. I hope more tourists & celebrities come to Australia and ride without helmets to show the police how ignorant the law is.
Or better still don't go, because the Aussies have ridiculous attitudes to road safety.
Yes, and in spite of helmet compulsion cyclists suffer getting on for three times our casualty rate.
a AUS$5 helmet will DEFINITELY save your life.
given that pretty much all helmets are just a plastic covered polystyrene cradle, a $5 helmet is probably just as effective as a $100 one
Actually, it is probably more effective, because the $5 helmet is almost solid to make it easy to manufacture, but the $100 helmet has lots of holes and slots to improve ventilation and as a result, is even more fragile.
He should have just peeled the flesh off his scalp to show why he doesn't need one.
" He stated that his father was a policeman".
His father was a Nazi too. Different times etc. There's a joke in there somewhere, no doubt.
Mmmmm
(His father was a Nazi too. Different times etc. There's a joke in there somewhere, no doubt.)
Or maybe not, but definitely an unnecessary comment!