Canada
A Sikh woman from Ontario has designed what she calls the first safety-certified multisport helmet specifically for kids like hers wearing turbans.
When Tina Singh’s three boys started riding bikes, they needed helmets and it was a task for her to find one in the market to accommodate her sons’ turbans.
She said her kids have long hair, nothing fits them properly as they wear turbans, reports CBC Toronto.
“I was frustrated that there wasn’t a safe option in sports helmets for my kids,” she said.
She worked for over two years and made a helmet that was safe for her kids. She said it’s in production and certified for use with bicycles, inline skates, kick scooters and skateboarding for kids over five. “This is a big learning curve for me, it’s not something I’ve ever done before,” she said.
What makes her model unique is that it has a domed portion on top to accommodate a child’s hair, while still fitting the way a helmet should: two finger spaces above the eyebrow, creating a “v” shape around the ear and one finger space between the chinstrap and the ear, reports cbc.ca/news.
The helmet also received a passing grade from the international testing company SGS this December.
While Singh’s helmets are for children, the issue of whether to exempt turban-wearing Sikh motorcyclists from wearing helmets has made headlines in recent years.
In 2018, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government joined Alberta, BC, and Manitoba in allowing Sikhs to ride motorcycles without helmets after calls by Sikh motorcycling groups and federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
The previous provincial government, under Premier Kathleen Wynne, refused those calls, saying the move would pose a road safety risk.
In a 2008 court case, a judge ruled against a human rights challenge to Ontario’s law after a Sikh motorcyclist refused to pay a fine for not wearing a helmet over his turban, saying it was against his religion to do so.
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