Full Text of the Bruce Todd Press Release
From Austin Bicycle Helmet Law
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Revision as of 09:42, 9 July 2006
http://www.echristianpr.com/news/index.html#helmet
06.16.06
Former Mayor Bruce Todd Endorses Stringent Bicycle Helmet Ordinance - Austin City Council to Consider Reinstating Law Requiring All Cyclists to Wear Helmets -- On August 24, 2006, an ordinance to reinstate a citywide bicycle helmet ordinance for cyclists of all ages will be brought to the Austin City Council by sponsors Mayor Will Wynn and City Councilmembers Betty Dunkerley and Brewster McCracken. The ordinance is strongly supported by numerous Austinites and has been endorsed by former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd, who had a life-threatening cycling accident last November that would have almost certainly been fatal had he not been wearing a bicycle helmet.
In May, 1996, while serving as mayor, Todd spearheaded an ordinance that required helmets for cyclists of all ages. That comprehensive helmet law was amended four months after he left office in June, 1997, and current law requires helmets only for cyclists 17 and under.
"The economic impact of even one head injury is enormous, and it's a cost we can help curtail as a community if all cyclists wear helmets," Todd said. "Age has nothing to do with the ability to withstand the force of falling from a bicycle even at slow speeds. Riding a bike is a privilege, not a right, and-just as is required when riding in a car-we must pay for that privilege by being safe."
The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute estimates that direct cost of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets is estimated at $81 million each year. Todd said statistics show that head injuries cause extraordinarily expensive, long-term impact to taxpayers. "Laws requiring helmets are not 'Big Brother' trying to impose an unreasonable bureaucracy on people. Nor do they have anything to do with personal freedom," Todd said. "Instead, just as with seatbelt laws, helmet laws benefit all of society by holding down on injuries-and the related cost to taxpayers-with a simple, very inexpensive remedy."
Todd has assembled a panel of experts consisting of healthcare professionals, family members, physicians and cyclists set to share their testimony on the importance of making helmets mandatory for all ages. A key point to be made is that there is nothing magic about the age of 17 when it comes to head injury.
Eric Makowski, president of Brown-Karhan Healthcare (a long-term, post-acute residential care program for people with head injuries) and president-elect of the Brain Injury Association of Texas, said: "Of the bicycle-related traumatic brain injury cases we have had here at Brown-Karhan, all of them were over the age of 17. Most of them were college students."
These safety and economic concerns will be part of the testimony Todd will present to the council.
Now fully recovered, Todd says, "My appeal is simple. Let's pass a helmet law for all Austinites. And, in the meantime, if you ride a bike, wear a helmet. Your kids need to see that this is not a punishment just because they're under 17-it's a common-sense thing to do. A $40 helmet can be the difference between life and death."
About Bruce Todd Bruce Todd has spent a lifetime in the public arena-both as an elected official for more than a decade and as an expert in public and governmental affairs since leaving office. In 1987, Todd was elected to the Travis County Commissioner's Court. He was re-elected for a second term prior to running for Mayor of the City of Austin and served as Mayor from 1991-1997. As Austin mayor, he led the second-fastest growing city in the nation to record levels of both job production and environmental protection and spearheaded the conversion of Bergstrom Air Force Base to a $500-million civilian airport. He was head of the successful joint city/county effort to preserve thousands of wilderness acres in Travis County and was instrumental in the effort to involve the community in youth programs and to provide school-to-work opportunities for Austin students.
