Ski Safety Legislation Moves Forward Again in CA
Full Speed Ahead for Ski Safety Legislation
Bills would require children to wear helmets, resorts to publish safety reports
SACRAMENTO – Today, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved (7-2) legislation to safeguard children who enjoy California’s alpine sports: skiing and snowboarding.
SB 880, authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), would require all children under age 18 to wear helmets while skiing and snowboarding. The bill would also require resorts to post signs about the law on trail maps, websites, and other locations throughout the property.
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.
In addressing ski safety, Senator Yee is teaming up with Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) who is authoring AB 1652, which would require ski resorts to develop and publish safety plans as well as submit a report to Cal-OSHA after any fatality occurring at the resort. AB 1652 will be considered tomorrow in the Senate Health Committee.
“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 legislative package, we can significantly reduce instances of traumatic brain injury or death for such a vulnerable population.”
In April, the Dr. Phil Show focused on the need for greater helmet use by children while skiing and snowboarding. On the show, Dr. Phil McGraw also announced his support for Yee’s SB 880.
“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.
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.
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 the Senate is a big step toward reducing head and brain injuries experienced by young skiers and snowboarders,” said Dr. David Lechuga, a neuropsychologist.
“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.”
In addition to the California Psychological Association, SB 880 is supported by the American College of Emergency Physicians, California Brain Injury Association, California’s Children’s Hospital Association, California Chiropractic Association, California Hospital Association, California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, California Psychiatric Association, California Travel Industry Association, Children’s Advocacy Institute, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, among others.
SB 880 must be approved by the full Assembly before consideration by the Governor.
For Immediate Release:
June 29, 2010
Contact: Adam J. Keigwin,
(916) 651-4008, (916) 256-5758
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