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Council Passes Scooter-Rider Helmet Legislation The City Council Committee on Health, chaired by Victor L. Robles, recently voted 7-0 with one abstention to approve a bill requiring children under the age of 14 to wear helmets while riding scooters. The bill was voted on and passed by the entire City Council yesterday, January 24th. "This bill is my gift to the children of New York City," said Robles. "If they received scooters as gifts, they should now hopefully get helmets to go with them to help them ride safely." Highlights of the legislation include: The Department of Health (DOH) will be required to provide educational materials on the hazards of riding scooters without helmets. The Police and the Parks Department will be the enforcing agencies. A summons will be issued to parents or guardians who are present when their child is riding a scooter without a helmet. Police will not be issuing summonses to children. Parents and guardians will be liable for the civil penalties (up to $50) arising from violations of this law. Hearing officers will be required to waive the fines if a parent or guardian can prove that he or she bought or rented a helmet since the violation date. Hearing officers also have the discretion to waive the fine if a child does not have a helmet due to financial hardship. Both of these are one-time waivers only.
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