Sacramento, CA – A pair of bills requiring those under 18 to wear a helmet while skiing or snowboarding passed the California state legislature on Tuesday.nSenate bill 880 mirrors a state law that requires helmet use by children while riding a bicycle, and also requires ski areas to post informational signage about the law. Assembly bill 1652 would also require ski resorts to enforce the law, as well as file annual safety plans and issue monthly reports about injuries and deaths. Similar laws are under consideration in several other states.

Assembly bill 1652, authored by State Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) was approved by a vote of 41-28. It was vigorously opposed by ski resort industry representatives, who expressed concerns that the reporting requirements will open themselves up to legal liability, and that they shouldn’t be put into a position of policing the slopes.

Senate bill 880 passed by a margin of 21-13 following debate that largely stuck to party lines, with Repubican senators arguing that the bill proposes a “nanny law” that infringes too far upon personal freedoms.

“In reality, we may as well pass a bill that makes all kids in cars at all times wear a helmet. That’s how we’re going to somehow create a safe, risk-free society,” said State Senator George Runner (R-Lancaster). It was ultimately a Republican vote, however, from State Senator Dave Cox (R-Sacramento) that passed the bill off the Senate floor.

“California’s ski slopes are perhaps the last area of recreation where we do not have basic safety standards in place for children,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who authored the Senate bill. “Despite repeated warnings from public health experts, professional athletes, and ski resorts, each winter brings news of hundreds of unnecessary tragedies for the failure to wear a helmet. With this legislation, we can significantly reduce instances of traumatic brain injury or death for such a vulnerable population.”

Proponents of the bills assert that half of all skiing deaths are caused by a head injury. Recent studies show that when helmets are used, the incidence of traumatic brain or head injury has been reduced 29 percent to 56 percent. The Federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has found that more than 7,000 head injuries per year on the slopes in the U.S. could be prevented or reduced in severity by the use of a helmet. The CPSC study also showed that “for children under 15 years of age, 53 percent of head injuries (approximately 2,600 of the 4,950 head injuries annually) are addressable by use of a helmet.

“When the data is so conclusive that helmets save lives and reduce severity of injuries, California should set minimum standards for safety,” said Yee. “We correctly do not allow parental choice for car seats and seat belts or basic vaccinations for children attending schools; nor should a helmet for kids on ski slopes be optional.”

Following the lead of California’s bicycle helmet law, SB 880 would impose a fine of not more than $25 on the parents of a child who fails to wear a helmet while skiing or snowboarding. Assembly bill 1652 contains no such provision.

“I think this is a very timely and important issue to address as kids do dangerous things, and as adults, we have to use our foresight to protect them from themselves,” said Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the popular “Dr. Phil” television show, who has publicly voiced his support for the Senate bill.

SB 880 now goes to the California State Assembly, while AB 1652 moves to the Senate. One must be approved or the bills reconciled before consideration by the state’s Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.