BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 192 (Liu) - Bicycles: helmets
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: April 30, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 9 - 2 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for the referral to the Suspense
File.
Bill
Summary: SB 192 would require the Office of Traffic Safety
(OTS) to coordinate with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to
conduct a study of bicycle helmet use and submit a report of its
findings to the Legislature by January 1, 2017.
Fiscal
Impact: One-time OTS costs of approximately $250,000 to conduct
the bicycle helmet use study. (Federal funds, potential General
Fund)
Background: Existing law requires children under the age of 18 to wear a
SB 192 (Liu) Page 1 of
?
helmet while operating, or acting as a passenger upon, a
bicycle, non-motorized scooter, inline skates, or skateboard. A
violation of this provision is punishable by a fine of not more
than $25. There are no requirements for adults to wear a helmet
while riding a bicycle. From 2008 through 2012, there was an
average of 109 bicyclist fatalities annually in California.
Existing law establishes the OTS within the California
Transportation Agency. The OTS is responsible for developing
the California Highway Safety Plan, which identifies major
traffic safety problems and coordinates statewide multi-agency
efforts to provide awareness, education, and enforcement
programs aimed at reducing traffic fatalities and improving
roadway safety for all users. For 2015, the OTS has $94 million
in federal funding available to support 285 traffic safety
grants to state and local agencies.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
published a report in 2012 (Review of Studies on Pedestrian and
Bicyclist Safety) that reviews the pedestrian and bicyclist
safety research literature in print as of 2007. The report
summarizes and synthesizes the key studies, evaluates existing
knowledge and identifies research gaps, and provides
recommendations for future direction. Relative to bicycle
helmets, the report notes the following:
Helmet use reduces the risk of head injury, brain
trauma, and upper face injuries. NHTSA has reported that
helmets are 85% to 88% effective in reducing head and brain
injuries.
Helmet use reduces the risk of head injury, brain
trauma, and upper face injuries.
The majority of cyclist fatalities and bicycling-related
injury disabilities were caused by head injuries
About 70% of fatal bicycle crashes are due to head
injury, and yet only 20 to 25% of bicyclists wear helmets.
SB 192 (Liu) Page 2 of
?
Estimates show that if every child 4 to 15 years old
wore helmets, 39,000 to 45,000 head injuries and as many as
55,000 scalp injuries would be prevented.
Research should continue to evaluate the effects of the
various helmet use laws in the United States and around the
world.
Proposed Law:
SB 192 requires the OTS, in coordination with CHP, to conduct
a comprehensive study of bicycle helmet use, including
determining the percentage of Californians who do not wear
helmets, and the fatalities or serious injuries that could have
been avoided if helmets had been worn. The bill would also
require OTS to report the study's findings to the appropriate
committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2017.
Staff
Comments: OTS estimates that the bicycle helmet use study would
cost about $250,000, which could be funded with federal grant
money, subject to confirmation by NHTSA. OTS also notes,
however, that NHTSA has recently conducted a study of bicycle
helmet use and concluded that the use of helmets reduces the
risk of head injury, brain trauma, and upper face injuries.
Given recent NHTSA work in this area, it is unclear whether
federal grant funds would be available. To the extent other
funding sources are unavailable, the costs for the study may be
borne by the General Fund. Staff notes that the study
envisioned by this bill appears to be more comprehensive than
the review of research published by NHTSA, which may increase
the likelihood that NHTSA would fund the study.
CHP notes that it would incur minor costs to provide existing
data to OTS for the study.
-- END --
SB 192 (Liu) Page 3 of
?