A heads-up law.

Byline: The Register-Guard

When a young person's unprotected head hits the pavement, the pavement wins - as does the automobile, the tree or the building, under similar circumstances. If the youngster happens to be rolling along on a scooter, skateboard or in-line skates at the time of the collision, the consequences of the impact are magnified.

These triumphs of matter over mind have catastrophic results. Last year, more than 98,000 people were taken to hospital emergency rooms because of injuries from riding scooters, double the number in 2000. Most of the injuries were to kids under 15, and there were 16 deaths.

In addition, skateboard-related injuries cause about 50,000 emergency department visits and 1,500 hospitalizations of children and adolescents annually in the United States, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Most of the hospitalizations involve head injury.

Beginning Thursday, thanks to the Oregon Legislature, children age 15 and younger will be required by law to wear helmets while riding scooters, skateboards or using in-line skates. Sooner or later, the new law will make some worried parents grateful beyond words for preventing a tragedy.

This helmet law owes much to the courage of a Springfield family willing to share its own heartbreaking loss in an effort to motivate lawmakers to seek solutions. In 2001, Diane and Dan Amundson's 11-year-old son, Tyler, died after colliding with a truck on his scooter when he wasn't wearing a helmet.

The Amundsons teamed up with Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, and Jean Lum of Springfield Fire and Life Safety/Firemed to champion Senate Bill 795 in the Legislature, with Rep. Bev Clarno, R-Redmond, as co-sponsor.

The bill passed overwhelmingly, despite some absurd carping by a few Republicans that the measure represented unwarranted governmental intrusion into personal freedom. The only freedom this welcome new law intrudes upon is the freedom to ignore the consequences of using appropriate safety gear for kids participating in rolling recreation.

It could cost a kid a good bit of movie money to scoot or skate without a helmet. Violations carry a $25 fine. Too bad that fine can't be passed on to parents, as it is under the current bicycle helmet law.

But the Amundsons fought for this law for all the right reasons. "It doesn't matter how responsible (a parent is) if there's no law to back you up," Amundson said at a news conference last year. "When you're 9, 10, 11, you're scared of Mr. Policeman. When (children) know it's a law, that they could get a ticket, they respect that."

Parents should respect it, too, and when their cool young skaters ask why they have to wear a dorky helmet, parents now have a perfect response:

"Because it's the law, honey. Buckle up."