Dear fellow Hanoverians:
“ATOTW” reader and pediatrician Susan =
Martin recently
sent me some great information. It struck a chord with me because =
I am
routinely hollering at my kids to wear their bike helmets, especially as =
they
get older. Did you know that it is a state law that children under =
16 need to
wear a helmet? I don’t think I realized that it was up to =
age 16; what great
ammunition to quote to a reluctant teenager! It surely was of =
concern to her
because she sees what happens when kids don’t wear helmets. =
She
specifically mentioned seeing LOTS of kids in Hanover riding without =
helmets
this summer; hence her e-mail to me, and this one to you. =
Here’s the text of the law for your =
information:
“Any person 16 years of age or younger =
operating a
bicycle or being carried as a passenger on a bicycle on a public way, =
bicycle
path or on any other public right-of-way shall wear a helmet. Said =
helmet shall
fit the person’s head, shall be secured to the person’s head by straps =
while
the bicycle is being operated, and shall meet the standards for helmets
established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4) =
or
subsequent standards or the Snell Memorial Foundation’s nineteen hundred =
and
eighty-four standard for use in bicycling or subsequent =
standards.”
The law goes one step further as it addresses =
in-line skates
and other wheeled vehicles for kids:
“Any person 16 years of age or younger =
operating in
line skates, a skate board, a scooter or other manually-propelled =
wheeled
vehicle or riding as a passenger on any such manually-propelled vehicle =
on a
public way, bicycle path or on any other public right-of-way shall wear =
a
helmet. Such helmet shall fit the person’s head and be secured by =
straps
at all times while operating in line skates, scooters, skate board or =
other
manually-propelled wheeled vehicle and shall meet the standards for =
helmets
established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4) =
or
subsequent standards or the Snell Memorial Foundation’s 1984 =
standard for
use in bicycling or subsequent standards.”
For more information (and ammunition!), go to http://=
www.usa.safekids.org/tier2_rl.cfm?folder_id=3D169
. Good stuff. Thanks, Susan…from all of =
Hanover’s kids and their
parents who love them.
For “Around Town on the =
Web”,
Cathy H-B
“Around Town on the Web” is a community =
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