Pedal power for city

A PROPOSAL to have bike helmet laws “relaxed” has been shot down by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he would like to see the laws requiring helmets to be worn scrapped in order to help launch a bike-share scheme across the city.

However, Ms Palaszczuk said: “I think that’s going to be very problematic. We know that bicycle helmets save lives, there’s very clear evidence that shows that.” By January hundreds of bikes will be available for public use but there will be no docking stations.

“Basically you are going to be able to drop it off where you are going to and someone else can pick it up,” Cr Tate said.

An app will locate bikes through a GPS tracking, which can then be unlocked.

Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, Southport and Varsity Lakes will be the first suburbs to access the bikes.