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Bill would Wearing baggy T-shirts and oversized pants, in-line skaters and skateboarders gather under a freeway overpass in Makiki to show off their "kick flips" and "ollies."
require helmets
for skateboarders
Some youngsters are hard-
headed about using the
protective headgearBy Lisa Asato
Star-BulletinThat's skateboarder speak for basic tricks that have their bodies airborne while their boards do 360-degree turns under their raised knees.
Most of the boys skateboarding at the ramp yesterday afternoon at Makiki District Park wore baseball caps or had bare heads. Only a handful wore helmets.
But that could change next January as state lawmakers advance Senate Bill 164, which would require children under 16 to wear helmets while riding skateboards and scooters, of the popular chrome and aluminum Razor sort. Last year, state lawmakers passed a bicycle helmet law for children under 16. That law took effect last month.
At the park yesterday, skateboarders agreed that helmets are a good safety measure. And most said they owned helmets but wear them only where they're required, such as at Hickam Air Force Base.
"I wear helmets when I know I can get hurt," said 11-year-old Steven Bolosan-Shenn, a sixth-grader at Moanalua Elementary School.
Bolosan-Shenn sat at the ramp's edge, watching the other skaters zoom toward him. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but said he owns one.
"When they have to wear it, they wear it, and that's that," said Tyler Tanabe, 16, of Kaimuki High School. "I don't consider it dorky."
1. Helmets should rest flat on the head, with the bottom edge parallel to the ground. MAKE HELMETS HELP
2. Side straps should form a "v" around each ear.
3. The buckle should be fastened tightly, yet comfortably.
4. The helmet should fit the head snugly and should remain in place when the head is shaken.
Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission,
online at http://www.cpsc.gov/kids/moves.html
Tanabe also owns a helmet, but now that he no longer skates where helmets are required, his helmet is "collecting dust," he said. "It's just like sweat builds up inside, and afterward, it really stinks," he said.
Victor Wong, 12, and his two friends are helmet supporters. Yesterday the trio had two helmets among them, with Wong's friends sharing one between them.
Wong said wearing helmets sets a good example for younger skaters. "They look up to the older kids, so if they say helmets are cool then they'll follow along," he said.
As for Wong's mom, Helen Chen, she said safety should be a concern of all parents. "(Some children) don't wear helmets. How come their parents aren't worried?" she asked.
"Our kids, we don't force them but they wear them. He asks me to go buy a helmet. I'm so proud of him because he always does everything appropriate," said Chen, who spent about $50 for her son's helmet at Town and Country Surf Shop.
Scooter rider Khlila Asman, 11, wears a helmet and protective gear on her knees and wrists. She wears a helmet because, she said, "My parents made me."
Nationwide, Pennsylvania is considering a scooter helmet law, and similar measures have been introduced in New Jersey and New York, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported recently. The article also said helmet laws exist in about a dozen municipalities, including San Francisco and Raleigh, N.C.
Last year, there were about 40,500 scooter-related injuries nationwide that led to emergency room visits, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates. Children under 15 accounted for about 85 percent of those injuries.
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