The first public hearing on a proposed child safety helmet ordinance is set to take place this evening in City Hall.
The ordinance would require children under the age of 16 to wear helmets when riding bicycles and other alternative forms of transportation on public roads, public bicycle paths, public areas and other public rights-of-way in the city. Along with bicycles, the ordinance would apply to those 16 and younger riding skateboards, motorcycles, ATVs, in-line skates, roller skates, Segways and unicycles.
The hearing is to be held during the Board of Aldermen”s regularly scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m. Proponents and opponents of the measure each will have 15 minutes to speak. Individual speakers will be limited to three minutes.
A second public hearing is scheduled for the Board of Aldermen”s April 6 meeting. The board could then vote on the measure.
Lois Connington, Safe Routes to School coordinator for Starkville In Motion, is in favor of the ordinance.
“In my mind, wearing a helmet is parallel to wearing a seat belt,” Connington said. “It”s the same level of safety. When I”m driving, my car does not move unless everybody is wearing a seatbelt. I feel the same way about riding a bike. You don”t ride a bike without wearing a helmet. I think it”s very important to wear a helmet wherever you ride.”
The ordinance also states passengers who weigh less than 40 pounds, or are under 40 inches in height, are to be seated in separate child passenger seats; no person who is unable to maintain an erect, seated position, or is less than one year of age, shall be a passenger on a restraining seat; and all other passengers shall be seated on saddle seats.
The ordinance would not be enforced until six months after it is approved by aldermen. The six-month window would give residents a chance to purchase helmets and read up on the ordinance, said Dr. Ron Cossman, a member of the city”s Healthy Hometown and Starkville In Motion, who has pushed for its approval. According to Cossman, Starkville would be the first municipality in the state to pass a helmet ordinance.
The Healthy Hometown Committee is seeking grants and other funds to help pay for helmets, which it plans to donate to city residents 16 and under through the Starkville School District, Cossman said. No city money would be needed, he said.
Persons found to be in violation of the ordinance would face a $15 fine, though the offender would have the opportunity to purchase a helmet approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in lieu of paying the fine. City police and the code enforcement officer would be in charge of enforcing the ordinance, Mayor Parker Wiseman said.
“The ordinance is not intended to be punitive,” Wiseman said. “I think it would be rare if it ever happened where somebody actually paid a fine. The remedy is aimed to be the purchase of a helmet, which can be done at a cost of $5 or less.”
“I personally think it”s a good thing,” Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas said of the ordinance. “I think there are some details that have to be worked out. I don”t want a police officer chastising kids, but I don”t think that”s going to happen.”
School board candidates
The Board of Aldermen tonight also will interview the final candidates vying for a seat on the Starkville School District board of trustees. Walter Conley, Eric Heisel and Susan Tomlinson are still in the running to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Walter Taylor, who retired earlier this month.
Another candidate, L. Ann Carr, was in the running, but was ruled ineligible last week by the Mississippi Attorney General”s Office because she lives outside Starkville”s corporate limits, but within the Starkville School District”s boundaries. According to the Attorney General”s Office, only two school board members can live outside corporate limits and Carr would have been the third in the Starkville School District. Current board members Bill Weeks and Keith Coble also live outside Starkville”s corporate limits, but within SSD boundaries.
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