THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995               TAG: 9501120197
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   42 lines

WHO NEEDS A BICYCLE HELMET LAW? JUST DO IT

Bicycle helmets are a good idea. They prevent injury, lessen injury, even save lives. Cyclists of every age should wear them.

So a law to require that cyclists wear helmets sounds great, particularly for young riders and particularly to parents who have a hard time persuading their children that safe is better than sorry, no matter how uncool. ``Because the law says so'' can be a handy parental tool.

But the law also says that bicycle riders must stay on the right, signal when turning and observe other rules of the road for their own and others' health. How many cyclists have you seen flout those rules? How many of those violators have you seen arrested? Which endangers a cyclist more - biking without a helmet or flouting the rules of the road? How does scant enforcement affect compliance with such laws, and respect for law? Yet how much time and manpower should police devote to enforcing a bicycle - or a bicycle/skateboard/roller-blade/go-kart - helmet law?

A lot less time and manpower than parents, teachers and bicyclists' peers should. They are around when police are not, and their writ runs beyond enforcing what's legal to reinforcing what's smart, whether the law requires it or not. They can popularize it by exemplifying it and publicizing why.

City Council on Tuesday passed along to the General Assembly a dedicated group of students' request for a local helmet law applying to cyclists 14 and under. The legislature has permitted several localities around the state to enact helmet laws. Virginia Beach may get permission, too.

But bicyclists have an advantage that localities constrained by the ``Dillon Rule'' don't: They don't have to appeal to a higher authority - the statehouse, City Hall, the police - before they can do what's wise. They can just do it. Nobody has to wait for a legal requirement to act wisely. That lesson applies beyond bike helmets. It's a good one for children to learn, and for lawmakers to teach. by CNB