BILL ANALYSIS SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE BILL NO.:........AB 2268 Senator Quentin L. Kopp, Chairman AUTHOR:..........CALDERA VERSION: (Orig.): (As Amend.):..06/02/93 FISCAL:..............YES SUBJECT: Bicycle helmets: mandatory use. DESCRIPTION: This bill would require all persons under 18 years of age to wear šan approved bicycle helmet when operating a bicycle on any šstreet, bikeway or other public bicycle path or trail. The bill šwould impose a $25 fine for violations of this requirement and šprovide for the use of fine revenue. ANALYSIS: Under the Vehicle Code, persons operating a bicycle on a highway š(any street) are prohibited from allowing any passenger four šyears of age or younger, or weighing 40 pounds or less, to ride šas a passenger without wearing a prescribed bicycle helmet. This bill would: 1. Require any person under 18 years of age operating a bicycle šor riding as a passenger on a bicycle to wear a bicycle helmet šwhen riding upon a street, bikeway, public bicycle path or trail. 2. Require all bicycle helmets sold to meet specified safety šstandards and to be conspicuously labeled. 3. Provide the following penalty provisions applicable, as šappropriate, both to bicycle riders and persons selling helmets: a)In 1994, only warnings and no citations would be issued to šviolators. b)Beginning in 1995, violations would be punishable as an šinfraction, with a maximum fine (not including penalty šassessments) of $25. c)Parents and legal guardians having control or custody of an šunemancipated minor would be jointly and severally liable šfor the fine with the minor. 4. Provide that fine revenues from bicycle helmet citations šshall be made available to: a)counties for bicycle safety education and for assistance to šlow-income families for purchasing helmets (60%), b)administration (15%), and c)cities or counties, depending on the site of the violation, š(25%). COMMENTS: 1. Sponsors of this bill seek its passage as a means of reducing šinjuries, especially head injuries, and death to children riding šbicycles. They report that 17,800 children were treated in šCalifornia hospital emergency rooms in 1991 for bicycle-related šhead injuries and that, nationwide, approximately 500 children šdie annually from head injuries sustained in bicycle accidents. Sponsors claim that most child bicycle accidents do not involve a šmotor vehicle, but rather miscellaneous collisions with šstationary objects, poor surface conditions, mechanical problems šand loss of control of the bicycle. They note that bicycle šaccidents can occur anywhere and not just on streets. Sponsors cite the high public costs of treating bicycle accident šhead injuries and resulting disabilities as further reasons for a šmandatory helmet law. 2. The bill raises a number of secondary issues for consider- šation beyond the primary question of mandatory helmet use: a)Would law enforcement personnel be able to determine šwhether a rider was 17 or 18 years of age without stopping šhim or her? How would age be determined if a rider was not šcarrying identification? b)The bill applies only to streets and public bicycle paths šor trails. Would compliance suffer because riders were šexempt from the requirement on private property, in parks, šschoolgrounds and other off-road locations? c)A first violation would be a warning and not a citeable šoffense. Without recordation in the DMV's or other files, šhow would courts know whether prior violations existed? d)The bill authorizes 15% of fine revenue to be used for šadministration. This figure is generous as compared to the š2 1/2% cap this committee has suggested for other agencies' štransportation administrative expenses. e)Is a $25 fine appropriate? If the standard penalty šassessment (170% of the fine) is added (another $42.50), šthe total sanction could total $67.50. 3. According to CHP reports, 115 bicyclists of all ages were škilled in California in 1991 and 16,446 were injured. Of the šdeaths, 75 (or 65%) were riders 25 years of age or older, while šof the injuries, 10,558 (or 46%) were riders 25 years of age or šolder. (1991 Annual Report of Fatal and Injury Motor Vehicle šTraffic Accidents.) AB 2268 (CALDERA) Page 3 ________________________________________________________________ 4. This committee last year approved SB 1878 (Bergeson) which šwould have authorized local governments to enact bicycle helmet šlaws at their option. A later version of the bill would have šallowed specified counties to enact bicycle helmet laws on a šdemonstration basis. Neither version passed the Legislature, šhowever, in part due to concerns about lack of uniformity šstatewide. Assembly Votes: Floor: 43-27 W&M: 11-6 Trans: 10-5 POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 23, 1993.) SUPPORT: Children's Advocacy Institute State Farm Insurance Companies Association of California Life Insurance Companies California Trial Lawyers Association California Association of Bicycling Organizations California Peace Officers' Association California Police Chiefs' Association United Cerebral Palsy Association of California, Inc. Farmers Insurance Group California Congress of Parents, Teachers & Students Walnut Creek Police Department Safe Roads/Safe Families Advisory Group California Center for Childhood Injury Prevention East Bay Regional Park District American Academy of Pediatrics California Nurses Association American Association of Critical Care Nurses Blue Cross of California Trauma Foundation Pacific Mutual Transamerica Danny Foundation State Public Affairs Committee, Junior Leagues of Calif. Safety Center Contra Costa Childhood Injury Prevention Coalition Santa Clara Valley Medical Center United Cerebral Palsy Association City of Palo Alto Traumatic Brain Injury/Spinal Cord Injury Projects The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. Prudential San Diego Regional Bicycle Safety Committee AB 2268 (CALDERA) Page 4 ________________________________________________________________ Girl Scout Councils of California Area XI Developmental Disabilities Board OPPOSED: 06/23/93