A bill before the City Council that would require skateboarders 16 and younger to wear helmets improves on similar measures that failed to gain traction last summer. Concerns have been raised about the city’s potential legal liability should Bill 62 become law, but those fears are overblown and should not scuttle this welcome effort to boost the safety of a popular pastime that injures hundreds of Oahu youngsters every year.

Councilman Joey Manahan has fine-tuned the measure considerably, heeding the concerns of police, skateboard shop owners and parents who questioned the fairness and enforceability of his earlier proposals. The current bill is patterned after an existing city ordinance that requires helmets for bicyclists under age 16, and would apply to skateboarders, roller skaters, roller bladers and youngsters riding other "toy vehicles." Violators would face a civil citation, with parents or guardians liable for a $25 fine for each offense. If enacted, the rule would apply on "public sidewalks, alleys, malls, parks, grounds, parking lots and other public places where such operation is permitted."

Some opponents criticize the bill as a financial and legal liability for taxpayers. They claim that the city would have to hire monitors for existing skateparks around town, or risk lawsuits, if the bill becomes law. Providing children a place to skate, requiring helmets and then not supervising the parks equals increased liability when accidents occur, they argue. But that hasn’t been the case with young bicyclists: The city’s bike lanes aren’t constantly patrolled by monitors seeking young helmet scofflaws; there’s been no torrent of lawsuits.

That brings us to general opposition stemming from the belief that skateboarders cherish their individuality and the sense of freedom and personal responsibility that go along with it. Helmet laws go against their nature, this argument holds.

Skateboarders may be a breed apart, but their skulls crack just like anybody else’s. According to the Injury Prevention Advisory Committee, nearly 465 injured skateboarders a year seek medical treatment on Oahu; fewer than than 10 percent were wearing helmets when they were hurt. Unhelmeted skateboarders are nearly twice as likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries — which can cause lifelong impairment — as those wearing helmets.

Public-health research shows that helmet laws increase helmet use, and that helmet use, in turn, decreases the incidence of head, brain and facial injuries suffered by children and teenagers who skateboard. Will every kid wear them? Of course not. Some will flout the law and risk their own health as they pursue an exhilarating and potentially risky sport. That doesn’t mean the city should do nothing. Approving this bill would signal that we as a community value the lives of young skateboarders as much as we value the lives of young bicyclists — not to mention the infants we require to be strapped into car seats and the motorists for whom we require seatbelts. Those lifesaving safety laws, accepted today, once were resisted.

Perhaps in a generation, skateboarding helmets will be such standard gear that children will wonder what all the fuss was about.