Minors to wear helmets as per New Jersey’s new law
New Jersey has introduced a new law that makes it compulsory for all children under the age of 18 to wear a helmet at the state’s ski resorts. The intended motivation for the law is to reduce head injuries and save lives.
The Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, signed the bill on April 6, though the new law will not become effective until November 1. Once in effect, the law will be applicable to the minor skiers and snowboarders while they are on slopes.
The bill was sponsored in the state Assembly by State Senator Anthony Bucco, a Republican from Boonton. He had started advocating the helmet issue after getting inspired by Dr. Norman San Agustin, a Morristown doctor. Dr. Agustin lost his 12-year-old daughter
in a skiing accident 23 years ago.
"I think it's very important to protect youngsters from injury," said Bucco. "We protect them on bikes with helmet laws. Why not protect them on ski slopes?"
Bucco had been introducing similar legislation for more than 10 years now, but to no avail. He was never able to get enough support for his cause. However, due to a recent increase in high-profile accidents and deaths resulting from head injuries on slopes,
other lawmakers finally joined Bucco’s campaign. They supported the introduction of law that will make it a compulsion for minors to wear helmets at ski resorts, who had been released of liability recently.
As per the new law, the responsibility of ensuring that their minor child is wearing a helmet lies on the parents or guardian. The burden of enforcement of law will be on the police instead of the resort staff. In case the minor skier or snowboarder is found
without a helmet on the slope, the parent or guardian will be fined US$25. However, in case the infraction gets repeated, the fine will increase to US$100 for subsequent violations.
Even though a few other states had attempted to introduce their own law to reduce minors’ involvement in slope accidents and fatalities, New Jersey is the first state of the country to actually take an initiative and pass the law.
According to Geraldine Link, a spokeswoman for the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), an industry group, there has been an increase in helmet use in recent years. She stated that almost 50 percent of skiers and snowboarders wear helmets, while the percentage
increases to 87 percent for kids under the age of 9.
She further added that though wearing a helmet while on slopes is a good practice, one still cannot undermine the importance of skiing and riding in a responsible manner.
“You can't just say, 'Everyone wear a helmet,' and expect slope safety to improve,” she said. “You have to have that core message of individual responsibility to improve core safety. That's our view. It never changed.”
NSAA officially supports the helmet law that has been introduced by New Jersey, provided the responsibility for compliance falls to the parents and guardian while local police department are responsible for ensuring the enforcement of the law.
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