Calendar No. 108

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 228

[Report No. 103–68]

A BILL

To establish a grant program under the National

by individuals under the age of 16.purpose of promoting the use of bicycle helmetsHighway Traffic Safety Administration for the

JUNE 24 (legislative day, JUNE 22), 1993

Reported without amendment
II

Calendar No. 108

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 228

[Report No. 103–68]

To establish a grant program under the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration for the purpose of promoting the use of bicycle helmets

by individuals under the age of 16.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 27 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. BRYAN (for himself, Mr. DANFORTH, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. MCCAIN, and

Mr. BOND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

JUNE 24 (legislative day, JUNE 22), 1993

Reported by Mr. HOLLINGS, without amendment

A BILL

To establish a grant program under the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration for the purpose of promoting the use of bicycle helmets by individuals under the

age of 16.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

S 228 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Bicycle Hel3 met Safety Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) 90 million Americans ride bicycles and 20

7 million ride a bicycle more than once a week;

8 (2) between 1984 and 1988, 2,985 bicyclists in

9 the United States died from head injuries and

10 905,752 suffered head injuries that were treated in

11 hospital emergency rooms;

12 (3) 41 percent of bicycle-related head injury

13 deaths and 76 percent of bicycle-related head inju14 ries occurred among American children under age

15 15;

16 (4) deaths and injuries from bicycle accidents

17 cost society $7.6 billion annually; and a child suffer18 ing from a head injury, on average, will cost society

19 $4.5 million over the child’s lifetime;

20 (5) universal use of bicycle helmets in the Unit21 ed States would have prevented 2,600 deaths from

22 head injuries and 757,000 injuries; and

23 (6) only 5 percent of children in the Nation who

24 ride bicycles wear helmets.
3

S 228 RS

1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

2 The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic

3 Safety Administration may, in accordance with section 4,

4 make grants to States, State political subdivisions, and

5 nonprofit organizations for programs that require or en6 courage individuals under the age of 16 to wear approved

7 bicycle helmets. In making those grants, the Adminis8 trator shall allow grantees to use wide discretion in design9 ing programs that effectively promote increased bicycle

10 helmet use.

11 SEC. 4. PURPOSES FOR GRANTS.

12 A grant made under section 3 may be used by a

13 grantee to—

14 (1) enforce a law that requires individuals

15 under the age of 16 to wear approved bicycle hel16 mets on their heads while riding on bicycles;

17 (2) assist individuals under the age of 16 to ac18 quire approved bicycle helmets;

19 (3) develop and administer a program to edu20 cate individuals under the age of 16 and their fami21 lies on the importance of wearing such helmets in

22 order to improve bicycle safety; or

23 (4) carry out any combination of the activities

24 described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
4

S 228 RS

1 SEC. 5. STANDARDS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Bicycle helmets manufactured 9

3 months or more after the date of the enactment of this

4 Act shall conform to—

5 (1) any interim standard described under sub6 section (b), pending the establishment of a final

7 standard pursuant to subsection (c); and

8 (2) the final standard, once it has been estab9 lished under subsection (c).

10 (b) INTERIM STANDARDS.—The interim standards

11 are as follows:

12 (1) The American National Standards Institute

13 standard designated as ‘‘Z90.4–1984’’.

14 (2) The Snell Memorial Foundation standard

15 designated as ‘‘B–90’’.

16 (3) Any other standard that the Consumer

17 Product Safety Commission determines is appro18 priate.

19 (c) FINAL STANDARD.—Not later than 60 days after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Consumer Prod21 uct Safety Commission shall begin a proceeding under sec22 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code, to—

23 (1) review the requirements of the interim

24 standards set forth in subsection (a) and establish a

25 final standard based on such requirements;
5

S 228 RS

1 (2) include in the final standard a provision to

2 protect against the risk of helmets coming off the

3 heads of bicycle riders;

4 (3) include in the final standard provisions that

5 address the risk of injury to children; and

6 (4) include additional provisions as appropriate.

7 Sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15

8 U.S.C. 2056 and 2058) shall not apply to the proceeding

9 under this subsection and section 11 of such Act (15

10 U.S.C. 2060) shall not apply with respect to any standard

11 issued under such proceeding. The final standard shall

12 take effect 1 year from the date it is issued.

13 (d) FAILURE TO MEET STANDARDS.—

14 (1) FAILURE TO MEET INTERIM STANDARD.—

15 Until the final standard takes effect, a bicycle hel16 met that does not conform to an interim standard

17 as required under subsection (a)(1) shall be consid18 ered in violation of a consumer product safety stand19 ard promulgated under the Consumer Product Safe20 ty Act.

21 (2) STATUS OF FINAL STANDARD.—The final

22 standard developed under subsection (c) shall be

23 considered a consumer product safety standard pro24 mulgated under the Consumer Product Safety Act.
6

S 228 RS

1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 For the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis3 tration to carry out the grant program authorized by this

4 Act, there are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000

5 for fiscal year 1994, $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and

6 $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1996.

7 SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘approved bicycle helmet’’

9 means a bicycle helmet that meets—

10 (1) any interim standard described in section

11 5(b), pending establishment of a final standard

12 under section 5(c); and

13 (2) the final standard, once it is established

14 under section 5(c).