Oak Park bicyclers 17 and under will have to strap on a helmet before hitting the streets under a new safety ordinance approved at Monday’s village board meeting.
Parents of kids in violation of the law could face up to four hours of community service, but a last-minute amendment to the ordinance proposed by Trustee Bob Tucker allows parents to pay a $25 fine instead.Â
The board, which has been debating the merits of the public safety ordinance since this summer, approved the measure by a 5-2 vote with little debate. The two opponents of the measure, Village President Anan Abu-Taleb and Trustee Peter Barber, both argued that the ordinance was unnecessary.
Barber said giving parents four hours of community service for a violation, “does not strike me as a really good way to relate to our community.”Â
Although he opposed the measure, Barber argued in favor of the option of a fine over community service. An earlier version of the proposal would have imposed a $25 fine on the child, but the punishment for noncompliance was later changed to up to four hours of community service for the parent.
“I thought last time we talked about not being punitive, and to me that [community service] idea is more punitive,” Barber said. “I think it’s an extreme penalty, and I think it should be reconsidered.”
He argued that the village is not creating a helmet ordinance for kids on skateboards or scooters. “Skateboarding is a much more dangerous activity,” he said.
Abu-Taleb said he opposed the ordinance but also supported the option of a fine over community service. He supported a suggestion by an Oak Park resident that the village hold educational classes for kids on helmet safety in exchange for a discount on bike helmets.
“I think education would be sufficient to start with, and if it’s not then maybe we should do the ordinance,” Abu-Taleb said.
Trustee Colette Lueck argued that the village should have both bicycle helmet safety programs and a safety ordinance. “It’s not either or,” she said.
Lueck reminded board members of research by the Department of Health showing that helmet use increases significantly in cities that have helmet ordinances.
The proposal was brought to the village board in June by the Oak Park Board of Health, a citizen advisory group. The group’s report to the board noted that nationally bicycle accidents result in 500,000 emergency room visits annually, and head injuries are the cause of 70 percent of fatal bicycle accidents.