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The author of a state Senate bill that would require children to wear helmets when they ride bicycles isn't sure how enthusiastically he will support the proposed law.
"I was reluctant at first because I think it's almost impossible to enforce," Indiana Senator Robert L. Meeks said Thursday of the bill he sponsored at the request of the Indiana Bicycle Coalition.
He said he has mixed emotions over supporting government intrusion into an area he considers parental responsibility.
Meeks' bill, which would take effect July 1, would apply to any child under age 12 "riding on a bicycle as an operator or a passenger" or in a bike trailer.
The bill also would prohibit "the rental of a bicycle for the use of a child less than 12 years old unless the child has a bicycle helmet or the person renting the bicycle offers a helmet for the child's use."
Parents or guardians who violate the law or who allow the child to violate the law would be subject to a class D infraction.
"There's no problem justifying the need," he said. "The problem is justifying the government interference."
Meeks' bill, however, had widespread support among Hoosier organizations concerned with children or safety, such as the Safe Kids Coalition, Boy Scouts, Riley Hospital for Children, Purdue University Extension offices, Indiana State Police, Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indiana Advocates for Children and Indiana University School of Nursing.
Meeks, chairman of the state Senate's Committee on Corrections, Criminal & Civil Procedures, said the committee's last meeting is Feb. 19, and he has not yet decided if he will give the bill a hearing.
According to a study by Kosciusko Community Hospital, 97 children were injured last year in county bike accidents. The total included major and minor injuries, with fewer than 10 percent considered serious head injuries.
Meeks said 15 to 25 bicyclists die annually in Indiana, and the state is 16th in the nation for the number of bicyclists killed per 100,000 population.
According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, 15 states and more than 40 cities, counties or localities have bicycle helmet laws that apply to various age groups.
