BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 880|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 880
Author: Yee (D), et al
Amended: 4/26/10
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-2, 4/14/10
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Cox, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley
NOES: Strickland, Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Romero
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Public safety: snow sport helmets
SOURCE : California Psychological Association
DIGEST : This bill requires persons under 18 years of age
to wear properly fitted and fastened snow sport helmets
while downhill skiing or snowboarding. This bill
establishes a penalty for skiers, snowboarders, and/or
their parent or legal guardian for noncompliance.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law provides that the
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to issue permits for
the use and occupancy of lands within the National Forest
System for Nordic and alpine skiing operations and
purposes.
Existing state law:
CONTINUED
SB 880
Page
2
1. Requires a person under 18 years of age to wear a
properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet while
operating a bicycle, or riding upon a bicycle as a
passenger, upon the streets or any other public bicycle
path.
2. Regulates certain behavior related to recreational
activities and public safety, including among other
activities, skateboarding and recreational water use.
3. Establishes that every person who willfully commits a
trespass by knowingly skiing in an area, or on a ski
trail, which is closed to the public and which has signs
posted indicating the closure is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
4. Prohibits operators of skateboard parks from permitting
any person to ride a skateboard therein, unless the
person is wearing specified protective equipment,
including a helmet. Establishes that any recreational
skateboard facility owned or operated by a local public
agency, that is not supervised on a regular basis, can
be deemed in compliance with the protective equipment
requirement by (a) adoption of a local ordinance
requiring any person riding a skateboard at the facility
to wear protective equipment, and (b) posting signs at
the facility alerting riders of the requirement to wear
protective equipment, and stating that any person
failing to do so will be subject to citation.
This bill:
1. Prohibits persons under 18 years of age from operating
snow skis or a snowboard, or from riding upon a seat or
device attached to snow skis or a snowboard, while
downhill skiing or snowboarding, without a properly
fitted and fastened snow sport helmet meeting specified
standards.
2. Establishes a fine of $25 for any violation of this
section. Dismisses charges against a person for
violating this provision, if the person alleges in court
under oath that this is their first charge for violating
this provision.
SB 880
Page
3
3. Makes the parent or legal guardian of an unemancipated
minor jointly and severally liable with the minor for
the fine.
4. Exempts Nordic skiing (i.e. cross-country) from these
provisions.
5. Requires a ski resort to comply with both of the
following:
A. Post signs at the resort giving reasonable notice
that a person under 18 years of age shall not operate
snow skis or a snowboard while participating in the
sport of downhill skiing or snowboarding unless that
person is wearing a properly fitted and fastened snow
sport helmet, and that any person who fails to do so
will be subject to a fine under Section 115810.
B. Provide notice prominently in writing of the
helmet requirement under Section 115810 on all lift
tickets, trail maps, and resort Internet Web sites.
6. Provides that the bill does not increase or decrease
unspecified duties imposed under existing law.
Background
Risk of injury from skiing . According to the National Ski
Areas Association, serious injuries (paraplegics, serious
head and other serious injuries) occur at the rate of about
43.6 per year. In the 2007/2008 season, there were 41
serious injuries. Thirty-two of these serious injuries
were skiers and nine were snowboarders. The rate of
serious injury in 2007/2008 was 0.68 per million
skier/snowboarder visits. According to a Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study in the journal,
Wilderness and Environmental Medicine , more people are hurt
snowboarding than any other outdoor activity, accounting
for a quarter of emergency room visits. Almost 213,000
people were treated each year in emergency departments for
outdoor recreational injuries from 2004 to 2005. Of those
injured, approximately 109,000 (51.5 percent) were young
people between the ages of 10 and 24.
SB 880
Page
4
Related and Prior Legislation
AB 1652 (Jones), 2009-10 Session, requires ski resorts to
prepare an annual safety plan and create a monthly summary
report stating the number of deaths and injuries at the
resort. Requires a person under 18 years of age and a
person employed by a ski resort to wear a properly fitted
and fastened snow sport helmet when operating snow skis or
a snowboard. The bill is on the Assembly Third Reading
File.
AB 990 (Jones), 2009-10 Session, would have required ski
resorts to prepare and file an annual safety report with
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and to
report to the DOSH on a quarterly basis any serious
injuries or fatalities involving patrons at the ski resort.
The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
SB 284 (Cox), 2009-10 Session, would have required DOSH to
utilize the most current safety standards when inspecting
aerial passenger tramways operated at ski resorts. The
bill would have also required ski resorts to file an annual
safety plan with the DOSH, make the safety plan available
on demand, report to DOSH, within 24 hours, any fatalities
involving patrons at the resort, and standardize safety
signage and equipment padding in use at the resort. The
bill died in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations
Committee.
SB 1924 (O'Connell), Chapter 475, Statutes of 2002,
requires that persons under 18 years of age wear a helmet
while operating a nonmotorized scooter or skateboard or
riding upon a nonmotorized scooter or skateboard as a
passenger.
AB 2218 (Keeley), 2001-02 Session, would have created the
California Ski Safety Task Force, required the Task Force
to adopt uniform sign standards for adoption by California
ski areas, and would have required the Task Force to make
recommendations regarding safety. The bill failed passage
in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 880
Page
5
AB 2268 (Caldera), Chapter 1000, Statutes of 1993,
prohibits a person under 18 years of age from operating, or
riding upon a bicycle as a passenger, upon a street,
bikeway, or other public bicycle path or trail unless the
person is wearing a helmet meeting specified standards.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/7/10)
California Psychological Association (source)
American Board of Trial Advocates
American College of Emergency Physicians, California
Chapter
American Psychological Association, Division of Clinical
Neuropsychology
Association of California Insurance Companies
California Brain Injury Association
California Children's Hospital Association
California Chiropractic Association
California Emergency Nurses Association
California Hospital Association
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association
California Psychiatric Association
California School Nurses Organization
California Ski Industry Association
California Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland
Children's Specialty Care Coalition
Los Angeles County Psychological Association
National Academy of Neuropsychology
Occupational Therapy Association of California
Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
San Gabriel Valley Psychological Association
San Francisco Psychological Association
Santa Barbara County Psychological Association
Santa Clara Psychological Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office claims that
enactment of this bill will decrease the number of serious
SB 880
Page
6
injuries resulting from skiing or snowboarding. The
author's office contends that half of all skiing deaths are
caused by a head injury, and recent studies show that when
helmets are used, the incidence of traumatic brain or head
injury has been reduced 29 percent to 56 percent. Injuries
that are sustained without a helmet are not only dangerous,
but pose significant financial hardship. According to the
American Medical Association, first-year acute care costs
for all skiers under age 17 who sustain a head injury range
from $1.5 million for patients with mild traumatic brain
injury to $82 million for those with severe traumatic brain
injury (TBI). Annual lifetime care costs per individual,
excluding first year costs, range from $329,000 for mild
TBI to $8.96 million for severe TBI. The author's office
also contends that studies show that kids who have been
wearing helmets are more likely to wear them as they get
older.
RJG:mw 5/12/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****