Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/09/2000 01:06 PM House TRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 282 - OFF-ROAD VEHICLE HELMET LAW CHAIRMAN HALCRO announced the next order of business as House Bill 282, "An Act requiring a person under 16 years of age to wear a helmet when operating or riding on an off-road vehicle; and providing for an effective date." CHAIRMAN HALCRO opened the meeting to public testimony. Number 2055 SCOTT HAMANN, Representative, Alaskan Bikers Advocating Training & Education [ABATE], Kenai Chapter, testified via teleconference from Kenai. ABATE is very concerned about the safety and welfare of children. However, this legislation is inherently flawed for several reasons. MR. HAMANN continued. First, mandatory use of a helmet is controversial. Look at air bags. The government has forced air bags into cars and children are killed because of them in certain types of crashes. The same is true for helmets. A helmet can add extra stress to a victim's neck due to forces of inertia. ABATE believes that individuals should be able to choose what is and what is not proper safety gear. ABATE also believes, and will always believe, that it is not the role of government to protect people from themselves. MR. HAMANN continued. Second, the law would be virtually unenforceable, for law enforcement does not have the resources. ABATE believes that it would be a gross mismanagement of the people's tax dollars to have law enforcement officers running down children for not wearing a helmet when there are far more serious crimes going unpunished. MR. HAMANN continued. Third, the best way to encourage safe and responsible behavior is to educate. If the state was really serious about safety, it should be running radio and television advertisements on safe and responsible behavior, instead of focusing on legislation that turns individuals into criminals. Mandatory helmet laws, he said, never solve the problem(s). Drug laws are a prime example of that. He said, "Educate. Don't legislate." MR. HAMANN continued. Finally, the cost to society is an issue that is so far out there because the biggest killer in the country is heart disease brought on by obesity. He said, "I got to tell you. I'm a fat man. I like putting extra butter and sour cream on my potato. I really don't need government sticking their nose into my business; telling me that I'm costing society a bunch of money." He urged the committee members to keep the bill in committee. Number 2290 MARTHA MOORE, Trauma Registry Coordinator, Community Health & Emergency Medical Services, Division of Public Health, Department of Health & Social Services, came before the committee to testify. Research shows that the use of a helmet can reduce the risk of death among ATV operators by approximately 42 percent, and can reduce the likelihood of a head injury in a non-fatal accident by approximately 64 percent. The injury rate is more than double for children compared to those over the age of 35, primarily due to immaturity, a lack of skills, and poor decisions. ATVs and snowmobiles are heavy and fast and at times unstable, and can be difficult for a small person to control. MS. MOORE continued. There is a motorcycle helmet law for children under the age of 18, which is similar to this legislation. A total injury prevention program includes the promotion of helmet use; education of safety standards; and making helmets available, affordable and acceptable. TAPE 00-19, SIDE A Number 0001 MS. MOORE continued. She referred to a program in Kotzebue called "Helmet in the Arctic;" in which, a variety of techniques to promote the use of helmets were used. She cited media, education, role modeling, discounts for helmets, and local option laws as examples. At the end of the program, the use of helmets increased 20 percent among young people. MS. MOORE continued. In Alaska, she cited that about 50 children a year are hospitalized because of ATV or snowmobile accidents. The hospital costs range around $9,000 to $10,000 per hospital stay, of which, about 1 out of 5 bill Medicaid or are uninsured. Number 0118 MS. MOORE continued. Because of the abundant use of off-road vehicles in rural areas and villages, Alaska Natives are at a greater risk than non-Natives for these types of injuries. In 1991, she cited that Alaska Native children billed Medicaid less than 10 percent of the time, while today they bill Medicaid almost 40 percent of the time, which illustrates that this is not only a health issue but a cost issue for the state. Number 0185 CHAIRMAN HALCRO asked Mr. Knight whether he contacted any retailers while researching this issue. MR. KNIGHT replied yes. He called around to see the average cost for helmets. CHAIRMAN HALCRO asked Mr. Knight whether he asked retailers about any type of safety training that they provide. MR. KNIGHT replied no. He asked whether they sold helmets. The reply was sometimes. In other words, sometimes they suggested to a customer to buy a helmet and sometimes they did not. CHAIRMAN HALCRO commented that his staff called various retailers in Anchorage and they discovered one that does not allow a customer who has bought an ATV to leave the store until the completion of a training/safety video. Number 0274 MS. MOORE pointed out that, according to the Alaska Trauma Registry, children who are injured are between the ages of five and eight. She said, "Whatever happens between that retailer and by the time snowmobiles or that ATV gets into the village and who actually uses it, I think, is pretty much different stories." Number 0328 DAN COFFEY, President, Alaskan Bikers Advocating Training & Education [ABATE], Valdez Chapter, testified via teleconference from Valdez. Parents should be controlling the ATVs and 4-wheelers that their children are riding. He has traveled and lived in Bush Alaska for many years. He said, "If you can imagine living in a village with no running water or sewer, then trying to make your 14-year-old put on a helmet to take that honey bucket to the lagoon, I think you're going to have problems." MR. COFFEY continued. This legislation calls for a helmet to meet standards of the United States Department of Transportation, which can cost up to $100, and they don't last forever. A family with many children, therefore, would find it hard to meet the deadline of July 1. A family would also find it hard to keep up with their children as they grow. As indicated by ealier testimony, one size does not fit all, and it can be more dangerous to use a helmet that does not fit than to use no helmet at all. Thank you. Number 0439 REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH asked Mr. Coffey why ATV or snowmobile operators are held in a different light; the state requires motorcycle drivers to be licensed. MR. COFFEY replied that 4-wheelers and snowmobiles can be the family car, especially in northern Alaska where the winters are extremely cold. He said, "I know that my beaver hat is sure a lot warmer than a helmet that was made in Southern California." Number 0519 REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH asked Mr. Coffey why he doesn't see a bicycle as any different than an ATV or snowmobile. He is trying to determine why he is opposed to both pieces of legislation [HB 282 and HB 283]; they deal with different types of vehicles. MR. COFFEY replied that both pieces of legislation call for a mandatory helmet law. Number 0562 REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN asked Mr. Coffey whether he is aware of the fact that Nome, Bethel and the North Slope Borough have already passed similar ordinances requiring the use of helmets for these types of vehicles. MR. COFFEY replied yes. In fact, Valdez has also passed an ordinance requiring the mandatory use of a helmet for ATVs. But, he said, if it's a local issue then it should be treated at the local level. Number 0640 BOYD McFAIL, Legislative Affairs Coordinator, Alaskan Bikers Advocating Training & Education [ABATE], Anchorage Chapter, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. He pointed out that manufactures will not guarantee protection for a helmet that has been dropped from a height of 3 feet. In addition, the last DOT-approved helmet was manufacture in the U.S. in the 1970s. They are now all being manufactured offshore because of liability laws. He can't see how the state can advocate that a helmet will protect an individual when manufacturers won't even build them in the U.S. He also can't see why the state is insisting that helmets are the fix-all for this problem, especially since death can occur while wearing a helmet. MR. McFAIL continued. ABATE is looking at establishing a training curriculum for the use of off-road vehicles. ABATE believes that education and proper training will eliminate the cause of accidents. He's not saying that there isn't a need for safety gear; he's just saying that it's more important to prevent an accident rather than to prevent an injury. It's a lot easier to prevent an injury by preventing an accident, and the only way to prevent an accident is to educate the person operating the vehicle. MR. McFAIL continued. He believes that this will put a heavy burden on the outlying areas of the state where ATV and snowmobiles are the primary modes of transportation. MR. McFAIL continued. He's thinks that this is an issue of usurping a parent's role in raising their children. Thank you. Number 1160 DEBRA M. RUSSELL, Ph.D., CRC, CBIS; and Director, Brain Injury Association of Alaska, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She will discuss brain injuries in general, for it doesn't matter whether the injury is from a bicycle or snowmobile. These types of laws, she said, are not for the average person; they are for those who make the wrong decisions, which equate to about 5 percent to 10 percent of the population. The state and communities end up incurring the costs. According to a study from 1996 to 1998, about 2,000 individuals died from brain injuries in the state. Alaska is the number one state, per capita, for brain injuries. The simple act of putting on a helmet, she said, saves a lot of lives and misery for everybody. DR. RUSSELL continued. The association, she cited, distributed 1,200 multi-sport helmets last year in conjunction with the Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Native Medical Center, and that's still not enough. She cited that 12 percent of those in an accident, no matter how strong the helmet, will die due to trauma associated with speed and impact. But the average person who wears a helmet will have a better quality of life or experience no damage at all. It's the responsibility of the state to protect the few children who do not have the support they need from their families. She also believes in requiring a helmet for adults, but children should be protected first. It's a lifetime of misery, she said, for the survivor and the entire family. The average person with a brain injury will have deficits and trauma for the rest of their life, if they survive. The state, however, doesn't have the necessary support systems for these individuals, which is why it's all the more important for the state to look at wearing helmets as a prevention. Number 1484 CHAIRMAN HALCRO asked Dr. Russell whether there has been any research done on those involved in a bicycle accident who weren't wearing a helmet but owned one. DR. RUSSELL replied no. She has seen, however, a child put a helmet on then turn the corner and take it off because it's not cool, which is why a law is needed. A child will probably follow the law. Number 1550 CHAIRMAN HALCRO stated that he sees children today wearing helmets more than ever. It seems that the awareness level has increased, which relates to earlier testimony indicating that public health has changed from fighting diseases to fighting injuries. DR. RUSSELL replied that the average, responsible parent provides helmets for their children, but unfortunately there are still hundreds of children who die from brain injuries from not wearing a helmet. She works with hundreds of children who have behavioral and educational problems as the result of brain injuries. There is a high rate of individuals with brain injuries in the criminal system. This is a long-term problem for the state, when all an individual needs to do is put on a helmet. There are a lot of programs that can provide a helmet. She said, "If we save one child. One child. Can you put a price on that? You can't." Number 1751 SHARRON LOBAUGH, Representative, Juneau Safe Kids Coalition, came before the committee to testify. She cited that, according to the Fatal Accident Reporting System for 1998, of those who were killed by incidents involving ATVs and snowmobiles in the state, 60 were not wearing a helmet, 9 were wearing a helmet, and 8 were unknown, for a total of 77. She encouraged the committee members to consider the previous testimony in relation to education, especially since the long-term recovery costs, as Dr. Russell indicated, can equate to $100,000 to $200,000 per year in Medicaid money. That is, she said, the real impact of this issue, along with the societal costs associated with the cumulative effects of the non-serious types of brain injuries. It's not like curing a broken bone. MS. LOBAUGH continued. She referred to the study mentioned earlier in Kotzebue and noted that the most effective way to encourage the use of a helmet was to decrease the cost, which also increased the percentage of youth riders by 50 percent for snowmobiles. There was no increase for ATV riders, however. A big step in helping towards that, she said, would be to make the use of a helmet mandatory. Number 1974 KEVIN HAND, Staff to House Transportation Standing Committee, Alaska State Legislature, came before the committee to discuss his conversations with retailers in Anchorage. In discussions with retailers who sell ATVs and snowmobiles, he said, they generally support mandating the sale of a helmet or signing a type of waiver with the sale of a new ATV. They generally support such a concept because of technological advances; in which, young people do not have the body mass to safely operate engines of 700, 800 and 900 cc. He said, "I'm sure if anybody has ridden a snowmobile, especially a larger one, and gone at a pretty good clip and tried to turn very sharply. If your weight isn't shifted that thing's going to roll on you, no question about it." MR. HAND continued. In a discussion with a Honda dealer in Anchorage, he indicated that a lot of parents want to buy a 300 cc 3-wheeler for their 9-year-old son. The dealer will often ask the parents, "Would you let your 9-year-old operate your car?" The parents, of course, reply no. The dealer then points out that their child would be safer driving a car with safety features than a powerful snowmobile down a trail. It sounds absurd to parents, he said, but it is a truth. MR. HAND continued. The Honda dealer also indicated that many of the deaths related to the use of off-road vehicles are the result of alcohol, and some are related to a person falling off of their vehicle into a body of water and drowning, which is a different twist on the statistics. Mr. Hand also noted that the Honda dealer supports the use of a helmet, and at one time gave a helmet away with the purchase of an off-road vehicle, but he found that to be economically unfeasible. MR. HAND continued. The dealers that he spoke with support a helmet law for younger riders because of recklessness and the inability to control such powerful machines, and for liability reasons. He cited that the Polaris dealer in Anchorage mandates that a person watch a safety video before "walking off the lot" with their new 4-wheeler. He also cited that Honda of North America sends a safety video to the address-of-record. The dealers that he spoke with also support a signature with a waiver indicating that the person understands the risks involved. In general, the dealers were in support of these concepts from a liability standpoint for both the manufactures and the sellers. Number 2181 MS. LOBAUGH commented that Alaska led the fight to ban 3-wheelers about 10 years ago with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, primarily because of instability. As part of that ruling, the commission required dealers to sell their products with safety information. She also pointed out that, according to consumer product regulations, a dealer cannot sell a 3-wheeler to those under the age of 16, and that the commission conducts spot-checks on a regular basis. The ban, however, was recalled last year, which means that in the near future 3-wheelers will be sold again in the state. It is necessary, therefore, that dealers know of the hazards and encourage safety. Number 2300 CHAIRMAN HALCRO closed the meeting to public testimony. CHAIRMAN HALCRO held the bill in committee.
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