Legislation to improve skiing safety was advanced by the Senate Judi-ciary Commit-tee on Tuesday.
The bill is being sponsored by Senator Betty Little.
It would require skiers and snowboarders under fourteen years of age to wear a protective helmet when skiing at New York ski areas.
The Ski Areas of New York, Inc. supports the measure, according to Little.
“This is modeled after the bicycle helmet law,” said Little. “Skiing is a relatively safe sport made safer by the use of a helmet.”
Little said more people have been wearing helmets each year.
She said they recognize that a traumatic brain injury is life altering.
“Requiring kids to wear a helmet is a reasonable and smart approach,” she said.
Little said ski areas would post signs at their information boards and on site locations where lift tickets are sold notifying guests of the law.
Lift tickets would also include language about the law and ski areas would need to maintain a reasonable inventory of helmets for sale or rent.
A civil penalty not to exceed $50 would be waived by showing proof between the date of the violation and court appearance date that a helmet has been purchased.
The parent or guardian of the child not wearing a helmet would be issued the summons by local law enforcement.
But there are some significant differences between the ski helmet law and the bike law from which it is modeled. These differences are mainly on the law enforcement side.
Bikes are generally ridden on public roadways that are routinely patrolled by law officers. It is unlikely that local police departments would commit officers to ski mountains to monitor for helmet violations.
In many cases this would require young skiers to carry identification with proof of age.
So from the law enforcement end, if any tickets were to be issued for a helmet violation, they would likely be issued after the fact—after an accident or disturbance call that required a police investigation possibly.
Still, Senator Little said the law would codify safe behavior for young people, and make it easier for ski areas and parents to require that skiers under age fourteen wear helmets.
“This would give mom and dad some added authority by being able to say to their children that it’s the law, you can’t hit the slopes without your helmet,” Little said.
