What's really cool? The helmet look

Thu August 04 2005
Posted Aug 4, 2005
8,627

By REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD August 4, 2005 You see it all the time - a kid riding a bike, scooter or skateboard without a helmet. Maybe more parents will insist their children wear one after hearing the plea of Ed Foy of Indianola. Let's hope so. His daughter, Katey, 16, died last month after falling off her skateboard and hitting her head at a skate park. Her father spoke to a crowd of more than 200 at the skate park, saying he wouldn't demand that helmets be worn, but that he hoped his request would "make a little bit of difference." The problem is, parents often make little ones wear a helmet, but by around age 11, kids quit putting them on. It's not cool anymore. Their folks might nag for a while, but most give up. To give parents more backbone, the Legislature should require children to wear a helmet on a bike, scooter, skateboard or anything else they ride on roads or other public places. Twenty states and many localities have adopted requirements for wearing bicycle helmets, most for children only, according to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, based in Arlington, Va. In some places, they also apply to scooters, skateboards and skates. Iowa should join the list. It would prevent deaths and injuries if more children wore helmets. Katey Foy surely didn't think anything bad would happen to her, either.