Toronto MMP Helena Jaczek, has come under fire after news of her proposal to ban children under 14 from riding on the back of motorcycles has upset the local bike community.

The bill is scheduled for a second reading at Queen’s Parc December 4th 2008. Bill Mackinnon, who said how he used to give his son rides to school on the back of a motorcycle, stated that most private members’ bills “die at second reading. I’m hoping this one goes that way. I never thought he wasn’t safe back there.”

According to the Transportation Ministry, 199 motorcycle passengers under the age of 14 were injured between 1995 and 2005, 12 of these were under five.

Jaczek, a former medical officer stated how her office gathered statistics on bike injuries and that she: “felt the numbers were really quite astonishing.” Jackzek commented that most of the complaints from bikers said it would deprive children of the thrill of riding: “I'm quite sure there are far safer ways to ensure that kids have some excitement.”

MacKinnon on the other hand said he would prefer to see the government offer bike insurance discounts to riders who agree to never give their children motorcycle rides: “Educate, rather than legislate” he commented.