BREAKING NEWS: Ski Helmet Bill in CA Approved
We just received fantastic news from the office of Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). The Senate health Committee (California) has approved Senate Bill 880, the new Child Ski Helmet Bill. We at SkiHelmets.org would like to congratulate Senator Yee, his staff and everyone else involved in this first step toward a new level of standards in ski safety in California. We continue to support this bill 100% and are excited to watch it move forward to the next level of approval and hope to see this law take effect by the 2010-2011 ski season. Below is the release re received today from Senator Yee’s office.
For Immediate Release:
April 14, 2010
Contact: Adam J. Keigwin,
(916) 651-4008, (916) 256-5758
Dr. Phil Helps Pass Yee’s Child Ski Helmet Bill
Committee Approves Legislation to require children wear helmets while skiing
SACRAMENTO – Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) got a big boost from talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw for his bill to safeguard children who enjoy California’s most popular alpine sports: skiing and snowboarding.
Yesterday, the Dr. Phil Show focused on the need for greater helmet use by children while skiing and snowboarding and today Yee’s SB 880 to require all children under age 18 to wear helmets while skiing and snowboarding was approved by the Senate Health Committee. SB 880 is modeled after existing law that requires minors to wear helmets while riding a bicycle.
“I think this is a very timely and important issue to address as kids do dangerous things, and as adults, we have to use our foresight to protect them from themselves,” said McGraw.
Since the show aired, Dr. Phil’s viewers have been writing to Legislators in support of the bill through his website, www.drphil.com.
“California’s ski slopes are perhaps the last area of recreation where we do not have basic safety standards in place for children,” said Yee, who is a child psychologist. “Despite repeated warnings from public health experts, professional athletes, and ski resorts, each winter brings news of hundreds of unnecessary tragedies for the failure to wear a helmet. With this legislation, we can significantly reduce instances of traumatic brain injury or death for such a vulnerable population.”
In March 1999, Shelby Ganitch was not wearing a helmet when she lost control of her snowboard and her head hit the packed snow. She was knocked unconscious and airlifted to San Bernardino Trauma Center where she laid in a coma for 3 ½ weeks.
“I had to relearn how to do everything,” said Ganitch. “If I had been wearing a helmet, my injuries would not have been nearly as severe.”
“The passage of SB 880 out of Committee is a big step toward reducing head and brain injuries experienced by young skiers and snowboarders,” said Dr. David Lechuga, a neuropsychologist.
Half of all skiing deaths are caused by a head injury. Recent studies show that when helmets are used, the incidence of traumatic brain or head injury has been reduced 29 percent to 56 percent. The Federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has found that more than 7,000 head injuries per year on the slopes in the U.S. could be prevented or reduced in severity by the use of a helmet. The CPSC study also showed that “for children under 15 years of age, 53 percent of head injuries (approximately 2,600 of the 4,950 head injuries annually) are addressable by use of a helmet.
“We are very pleased to be working with Dr. Yee on this important public safety measure for children in California,” said Dr. Jo Linder-Crow, Executive Director of the California Psychological Association. “The tremendous research coming from the growing field of neuropsychology made this an issue of utmost importance to our members and the public that we needed to tackle head on. The lives lost and public health costs are too high to ignore any longer.”
“When the data is so conclusive that helmets save lives and reduce severity of injuries, California should set minimum standards for safety,” said Yee. “We correctly do not allow parental choice for car seats and seat belts or basic vaccinations for children attending schools; nor should a helmet for kids on ski slopes be optional.”
Following the lead of California’s bicycle helmet law, SB 880 would impose a fine of not more than $25 on the parents of a child who fails to wear a helmet while skiing or snowboarding. The bill will next be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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San Francisco Child Care Bill Approved
Today, the Senate Education Committee approved Yee’s legislation to extend a subsidy program that allows San Francisco child care facilities to serve thousands of children from low-income families. Without Yee’s Senate Bill 1225, the program that serves an additional 6,500 children would terminate at the end of this year. San Mateo County has a similar program that extends until 2013.
Due to the high cost of living in San Francisco, the program consists of two main components. Under SB 1225, the ongoing eligibility for subsidized childcare is raised from the 75 percent of the state median income to 85 percent of the state median income. For a family of four, this change increases the maximum income eligibility from $49,620 per year to $60,108 per year.
SB 1225 will also continue the program’s ability to provide for higher contract reimbursement rates – approximately an additional $2 to $5 per a child served per a day. The normal daily reimbursement rate is $34.38, but under the program San Francisco’s rate is $35.63 and for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) the rate is $39.52. SB 1225 would extend the San Francisco subsidized child care program until 2016.
“For low-income parents trying to maintain employment or attend school, this child care program is the most needed resource in their lives,” said Yee. “Without SB 1225, many San Francisco child care providers will be in serious fiscal danger and run the real risk of going completely out-of-business.”
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Great News! Safety is always an issue when it comes to sports and not enough people take it seriously until something happens to them. Protect your noggin! Dress up your helmet if it makes wearing one more palatable — but wear one. It hurts if you have a “yard sale”! But hurts even more if your head isn’t protected.
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