City considers bike helmet law for kids
The mile-long journey for Jackson and Zachary Young from their Grandview Heights home to Pierce Field is filled with potential perils — busy intersections, bumps in the road, an untimely flat tire.
But the brothers, 7 and 5 years old, are confident they’re safe as long as they follow one of their parents’ most important rules of the road.
“Always wear your helmet,” they recited on cue.
The boys’ mother, Brenda Young, 43, said that because not all parents teach their children that rule, she
supports proposed legislation in Grandview Heights that would require everyone younger than 18 to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle.
Bexley, Columbus, New Albany and 22 other cities across Ohio have passed bicycle helmet laws for children.
“It just isn’t worth the risk,” said Young, an athletic trainer who said she’s well aware of the dangers of head injuries.
Each year, about 218,000 children in the United States are treated in hospital emergency departments for bicycle-related injuries.
In Ohio, more than 6,200 children suffer injuries, including one in six who experience traumatic brain injury, according to Dr. Nichole Hodges, a research scientist at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Those numbers don’t include children treated outside emergency departments.
Helmets reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by as much as 88 percent, Hodges said.
The Grandview Heights City Council’s safety committee is expected to discuss the issue at a 7 p.m. meeting on Monday.
Council President Greta Kearns introduced the legislation June 5. A public hearing and second reading are scheduled at the next council meeting, on July 5, meaning the earliest a vote could occur would be at a special meeting in late July or the regularly scheduled Aug. 7 meeting.
If the legislation is approved, children and teens caught riding without a helmet would be warned, but only if their parents can show proof of helmet ownership. A second violation would result in a $25 fine and a minor-misdemeanor charge. Any additional fines would be $50.
The law also would apply to kids on skateboards, scooters, roller skates and certain motorized vehicles.
Kearns said this legislation is similar to laws requiring seat belts and child car seats.
“If people know it’s illegal, they’ll be more likely to make the right choice,” Kearns said. “Over time, it will become more of a social norm.”
Critics note that such laws are often difficult to enforce.
Bexley and New Albany officials said they haven’t cited anyone for violating their laws since adopting them in 2010 and 2016, respectively. Franklin County Juvenile Court did not respond to a request for information regarding violators, though Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said it’s unlikely that anyone has been cited.
Officials say safety, awareness and education should be the goals.
They cited public events during which free helmets are distributed to children and school-based awareness programs. It’s also common for police in central Ohio to give children coupons for ice cream if they see them wearing helmets.
“It’s never been about the tickets,” said New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding. “We’re not looking to raise revenue. We’re trying to help kids create good habits.”
A law becomes especially helpful for parents of teenagers who might face peer pressure not to wear a helmet, he said.
National research supports the idea that cities with bicycle helmet laws have higher rates of helmet usage, Hodges said.
“It’s a pretty simple solution to a big problem,” she said.
Nationwide, 21 states and the District of Columbia have helmet laws. Elected officials in Ohio most recently discussed a statewide law for children younger than 16 in 2015, but the legislation never went anywhere.