This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 19, 2009 - After coming home from the St. Patrick's Day parade March 17, Jameson Hague, a 7-year-old boy of Irish heritage appropriately living in St. Louis' Green Park suburb, jumped on his scooter and headed for a friend's house. But Jameson's luck o' the Irish ran out minutes later, when a St. Louis County police officer spied his bare head.
A new county ordinance requires all children ages through age 16 to wear a helmet while on a bicycle, skateboard, roller skates or roller blades. Officer Kevin Funston issued Jameson a notice of violation -- a warning that, from his mother's perspective, was actually a stroke of good luck.
"I'm glad. I think it will teach him to put his helmet on," Sharon Cogo said.
Education is precisely the point of the ordinance, which went into effect Dec. 26, 2008. When issuing warnings, officers try to locate the parents, who will also receive a copy of the notice in the mail along with information about getting a free helmet. After two warnings in 12 months, the child gets a citation. If convicted, he or she has to pay a $10 fine.
"Do you know where that $10 would come from?" Cogo asked her son.
"My money?" Jameson asked.
"Yep," Cogo replied.
The hope that children will have to reach into their own pockets or piggy banks -- making the consequence a real and painful one -- is the reason the fine is small, explained County Public Health Coordinator Shirley Scatcherd, who pushed for the ordinance. Scatcherd, a nurse, began sending information four years ago to municipalities that lacked helmet laws for children, urging them to pass one. After her letter-writing campaign prompted several such laws, she decided to work for a county-wide measure.
Though a similar county helmet law has been in effect since 2001, county officers could only enforce it in county parks and unincorporated areas that are solely governed by the county. Because the fines are levied by and authority was given to the county health department - an agency that covers almost every local municipality - it becomes the minimum standard in all areas.
Currently 57 of 91 municipalities do not have their own child helmet laws. Scatcherd hopes each of those municipalities will place a priority on enforcement of the new ordinance, as Kirkwood plans to do.
"It's a good ordinance. It benefits all kids to wear helmets," said Kirkwood Police Information Office Detective Dave Smith.
County Council member Barbara Fraser, who introduced the ordinance, is counting on peer pressure to make it successful for all ages, from preschoolers to teenagers.
"If some kids are seen wearing helmets, then all kids will wear helmets," Fraser said.
The importance of helmets is illustrated by statistics from Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital that show up to 80 percent of bicycle accident fatalities are caused by head injuries. Four out of five of those deaths could have been prevented with a helmet. States that enact helmet laws see an increase in the number of helmet wearers, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The parents of 16-year-old Neil Eoloff of Webster Groves fully support the new county ordinance and wonder if it would have changed the outcome of their son's October 2007 accident.
Crossing a street on his bike while wearing no helmet, Neil was hit by a car, the impact sending him flying to the other side of the road, where he landed full-force on his head, suffering a fractured skull. After worrying over his hospital bed for several days, Neil's parents were finally told there were no apparent signs of brain injury -- at least not yet.
A year and a half later, his dad still worries about the real possibilities of seizures or chronic headaches in the future.
"Had Neil been wearing a bike helmet, his skull would not have been cracked in the accident and we would be far less concerned about long-term brain injury questions," Eric Eoloff said.
Critical to head protection is selecting the right helmet. Tips for choosing helmets are listed on the notice of violation, including:
- Let the child pick out the helmet so he or she will be more likely to wear it.
- Make sure the helmet fits low and level on the child's head.
- Fasten the child strap and make sure it's tight enough to touch the skin.
Back in Green Park, Jameson quickly scooted away after donning his black helmet with fire designs, to warn his pals about the ordinance. They took his message to heart, said his mom: "It wasn't long before they were all riding around with their helmets on."
Nancy Larson is a freelance writer.