VIDEO: Assemblyman proposes ski helmet law
ALBANY – If a Brooklyn assemblyman gets his way, ski helmets will soon become the latest example of something you’re required to use in New York State.
Felix Ortiz makes no apology for wanting to require the protective headgear at ski areas.
Government mandated health insurance is just the latest example in a long-running debate pitting arguments of public good versus personal liberty.
Ortiz has an issue not as dramatic, but still controversial.
Those who favor mandatory ski helmets in New York argue it will reduce the number and severity of head injuries.
Those against the law include the president of Ski Areas of New York. Scott Brandi says the accident rate is below 2.6 per thousand visits that Ortiz claims. He says the 39 deaths nationwide every year means you’re twice as likely to be killed by lightning than by a ski crash.
The Democratic assemblyman has never skied, but believes very strongly everyone who does should wear a helmet.
The helmet law would provide a $1,500 fine to the ski area for each customer without protective headgear and a $500 fine against the individual. Ortiz says the law would be enforced by officers with the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Ortiz thinks all the other so-called “big brother is watching issues” are valid — like listing calories on menus, banning and taxing sugared soft drinks, barring salt or transfats, regulating cell phone use and texting while driving, requiring seat belts and of course motorcycle helmets.
The ski area president argues requiring mandatory helmets places a financial and regulatory burden on ski areas.
The mandatory helmet bill has been pending in the Legislature in previous years without passing. Ortiz was not making any predictions of better success today.
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