Local death incites bill

The rough sounds of wheels on cement could be heard at Kinzer Pike Skate Park Wednesday afternoon as young skateboarders grabbed their boards and sailed down the man-made slopes. It's possible that in a few years a new batch of boarders will be on those same slopes with one difference. They will all be wearing helmets.\nRep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, proposed a new law this week that would require head protection for young skateboarders. Welch will work on the proposal's specific mandates later this year. \nWelch proposed the bill at the request of a friend of a student who died last week as a result of a fall from his skateboard. Matt Jennings, an eighth grader at Batchelor Middle School in Bloomington, had been "skitching" or riding his skateboard while being pulled by another friend on a scooter. \nA law sparked by the accident has already created controversy.\n"Everyone takes those risks, and passing legislation just seems imposing," said Rise Skateboard Shop employee and IU senior Benny Rouch. "Lots of people are worried they are going to have to wear helmets because one kid did something silly."\nThe young skateboarders of Kinzer Pike Skate Park said they think such a law is unnecessary. Most of the teenage skateboarders expressed that they would continue to skateboard without headgear if the law was passed.\n"I wouldn't wear one," said 14-year-old Tony Cromer. "It gets in your way and prevents you from doing stuff."\nOther skateboarders were concerned about the sudden cause for the legislation. Dustin Pendley, a 16-year-old from Edgewood High School, said they should not have to wear helmets because a Jennings was not involved in the kind of skateboarding at Kinzer Skate Park.\nWelch expects controversy over the proposed law. Still, as a campaigner of former laws on safety, she said she believes there is an importance to educate the public on protective gear.\nWelch said helmets are necessary because they save lives and prevent serious head injuries. Such legislation will also aid parents in their battles to make their skateboarding children wear helmets. \n"Some kids won't wear them unless all the other kids do," Welch said. "This helps parents enforce (wearing helmets)."\nWhether such a law will make skateboarders wear helmets remains unseen. However, nervous skateboarders can set their worries aside, at least for now. Welch said the bill would not be written until late fall. \nIt is also assumed that like the bicycle helmet laws, the new skateboard law would not include adults. Enforcement polices for the new bill have not even been considered yet.\n"It is unusual for a controversial issue to pass within the year," Welch said. "My best estimate is three to five years."\n-- Contact staff writer Kathlyn Von Rohr at kvonrohr@indiana.edu.