A welcome helmet law.

Byline: The Register-Guard

When members of the Oregon House passed a bill last week requiring those aged 16 and younger to wear helmets while riding skateboards, scooters and in-line skates, they voted to save young lives. That's the bottom line of Senate Bill 795, which is now is a gubernatorial signature away from becoming law.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, and Bev Clarno, R-Redmond, honors the memory of 11-year-old Tyler Amundson of Springfield, who died in 2001 after crashing into a truck while riding his scooter. He wasn't wearing a helmet. The boy's mother, Diane Amundson, urged lawmakers to pass the helmet bill because more parents make sure their children obey such rules if they are law.

The House had to set aside suggestions that the bill reeks of governmental intrusions into individual freedoms. Rep. Randy Miller, R-Lake Oswego, called the measure "nonsense" and predicted that next would come laws to require helmets while driving or taking a bath. Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, said he didn't need the Legislature "to tell me how to parent my children."

The bill is not nonsense, and it's not a replacement for parenting. It is a perfectly sound way to protect young Oregonians from serious injury or death. In 2000-01, 32 Oregon children were treated at trauma centers for injuries they sustained while riding scooters, skateboards and in-line skates. Two of those 32 children were wearing helmets, and their injuries were relatively minor. Two of the children not wearing helmets were killed.

The helmet requirement for youngsters engaging in roller sports is no different from the existing law requiring them to wear helmets while bicycling. It also fits snugly with the Oregon laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets and motorists to wear seat belts. Such laws are not onerous, and they reduce serious injuries and save lives. This law will do the same.