"We used to see kids riding past with their helmets strapped over their handlebars. Now, because they look cool, they're all wearing them. That's an adult thing too.
"It's like buying a pair of jeans for a lot of people - it has to look good rather than feel good or do the job.
"Generally, I see everybody wearing them, it's only the foreign short stayers that don't."
Mr Payne said wearing helmets should be compulsory, particularly with less than ideal driving behaviour from motorists.
"Eighty per cent [of drivers] are good. The other 20 per cent, you could say they're ignorant toward cyclists," Mr Payne said.
"They're not even aware you're there most of the time."
Cycling Action Network's Patrick Morgan said the fall in helmet infringements seemed to reflect changing police priorities.
It's like buying a pair of jeans for a lot of people - it has to look good rather than feel good or do the job.
"I think it's just police have better things to do than stop people on bikes and fine them for helmet use or misuse," Mr Morgan said.
"I welcome police resources going into higher priorities."
Mr Morgan said there was "thin" evidence that mandatory helmet use laws worked, and that Australia and New Zealand were the only two countries that have such a law.
"There's enough evidence that mandatory bicycle helmets hasn't worked as intended, and that's why it's our policy to review the law, to see if it's working as intended - but it's not our top priority."
He said the organisation's position was not a call for making helmets optional, but to review the wider effects of helmet-wearing legislation.
Superintendent Stephen Greally said safety on the road was a priority for police, whether the road user was in a car, on a bike, or using some other form of transport.
"There has been no change in the way police enforce laws for bicycle related offences," he said.
"When an officer attends a job, they are responsible to assessing the situation and providing an appropriate response to ensure the safety of the public.
"The response from an officer could range from an infringement notice to a warning or prevention advice, this decision is made at the officer's discretion."
Mr Morgan said he did not normally wear a helmet when cycling on the road. He has a legal exemption on medical grounds because he said helmets gave him headaches and migraines. He said he was stopped three or four times per year.
"I wear it if I do something dangerous, like mountain biking or something risky like that. But [not if I'm] just riding around my neighbourhood or on a separate New Zealand cycle trail."
