Don’t be surprised, parents, if your children riding their bicycles without a helmet wind up coming home with a ticket. The message behind the citation will be to be thankful that the kids aren’t coming home with something worse, like
Don’t be surprised, parents, if your children riding their bicycles without a
helmet wind up coming home with a ticket. The message behind the citation will
be to be thankful that the kids aren’t coming home with something worse, like a
banged-up head.
Effective last Tuesday, a new state law requires anyone 16
years old or under to wear a helmet while riding a bike. Going two-wheeling
without the right headgear can result in a $25 ticket from police. The
intention isn’t to write tickets. Rather, the idea is to keep children from
suffering a serious head injury if they take a spill or are involved in an
accident while cycling.
There’s no excuse—not even financial hardship of
the parents-for any young pedaler to be helmetless. Children can get free
helmets in exchange for participating in the Keiki Injury Prevention
Coalition’s bicycle safety training program. A similar program is conducted by
the Boys and Girls Club.
Backers of the safety efforts and the helmet law
are putting safer bicycling first. More power to them.
