It’s A Slippery Slope If you’ve ever set foot on a ski slope, you know how chaotic it can be; people of all different abilities, from novice to expert, whizzing past each other trying to get to the bottom of a ski run. To help control some of the chaos, ski resorts have put certain safety measures in place, like the skier responsibility code, to ensure that everyone on the slopes has a good time and stays safe. As much as these measures can help skiers and snowboarders avoid an accident, accidents do still occur. Collisions with trees and other riders are two types of accidents that can cause serious head injuries while skiing or snowboarding, and this is where a helmet comes in. The NSAA (National Ski Area’s Association), along with researcher Dr. Shealy, reported, “recent research has shown that the use of a helmet reduces the incidence of any head injury by 30 to 50 percent (Hawks).” In 2011, lawmakers in New Jersey took those statistics seriously and decided that it was necessary to enforce helmet use at their ski resorts. The New Jersey helmet law may seem like a “no-brainer”, when you consider …show more content…
More and more people are now donning the “uncool” helmets than ever before. In the article, Should Colorado Ski Area’s Require Helmets On Kids, for the Denver Post, author Jason Blevins says, “Even without the threat of laws and fines, helmet use climbs roughly 5 percent every year. Half of all skiers and snowboarders in America wear helmets, up from 25 percent in 2002-03 (Blevins).” As far as children are concerned (the ones that are directly affected by the ski helmet law), a whopping 91 percent of kids 9 years and younger are wearing helmets, according to the NSAA’s fact sheet on skiing and snowboarding safety (Hawks). The helmet law makes sure that the parents of the remaining kids’, who are not wearing helmets, will face a