Mandatory Life Jackets
Mandatory Life Jackets (MLJ). Lives are being lost. It's time to introduce this critical safety initiative. Since introducing the cycling specific mandatory helmet law (MHL) 25 years ago, Australia has waited for the rest of the world to catch-up. We are still waiting. In those 25 years, MHL has proven one thing; that mandating bicycle helmets leads to fewer cyclists. In 2016, 280 Australians died by drowning. This number exceeds the number of cycling deaths. Water safety experts have said that people enjoying water based activities are individually less likely to die if they are wearing an Australian approved correctly fitted life jacket. Water safety experts have also expressed their belief that the majority of these drownings were preventable. The benefits of life jackets are proven. Life jackets are already mandated for some water based activities. Motorboat racing and the Sydney Hobart yac...