Children Don't Deserve Personal Choice When it Comes to Helmets

Everyone should ski with a helmet. They’re safe. They keep your goggles in place. And you look like a hippy or gaper if you ski without one.

In the motorcycle community there’s a lot of discussion about personal choice and personal freedom. Most of this nonsense comes from aging hippies. The connection is becoming clear.

There might be some validity to the personal choice argument for adults who have the financial means to ensure that their head injury treatment won’t be subsidized with my tax money. But there is absolutely no place for "personal choice" when it comes to kids.

California Senator Leland Yee shares the same view. He introduced a bill that would have imposed a $25 fine on parents of kids caught skiing or snowboarding without a helmet. The language of the bill mirrored bicycle helmet laws already in place. Unfortunately Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the legislation. The legislation was opposed by Republicans who said it amounts to "nanny government" and infringes on parents’ rights.

What right does a parent have to knowingly expose children to increased risks of traumatic brain injury and death? There is no risk-reward calculation that justifies skiing or snowboarding without a helmet. It’s ironic that aging hippies and Republicans make such cozy bedfellows on this issue.