THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Regarding ``Ordinance harms bicyclists'' (letter, July 4) in which the writer compares bicyclists' supposed freedom against ``a choice that should be made only by parents'':
I applaud the efforts by those students to enact a helmet law. How many deaths is it going to take before people realize that simply wearing a helmet may reduce any head injury that comes along? My only regret is that the law's not applicable to the over-14 crowd as well.
Can you be absolutely certain that you or your kids will never have an accident? What will you say when your child is in the hospital, paralyzed and/or near death? How will you explain how freedom was much more important than safety?
But it doesn't stop there! I can't tell you how many times I've seen a rider with a baby and the baby the only one having a helmet on. How are you going to tend to your helmeted baby when you're unconscious from a head wound?
Every time you get in your car and buckle your seat belt, you take one small step which will keep you from flying out the windshield in an accident. Every time you put on that bicycle helmet, you take one small step in reducing a serious head injury. Parent set an example for young ones everywhere. Think safety!
MICHAEL YANOSKA
Virginia Beach, July 5, 1995 by CNB