No mandatory helmets for skiers

SPRINGFIELD — A plan that could have required Illinois skiers and snowboarders to wear helmets on slopes like Bartlett’s Villa Olivia crashed squarely into a tree Tuesday.

Lawmakers rejected the plan by a 3-4 vote at a Senate hearing, saying the state shouldn’t get involved in telling people what safety equipment to use.

“This is why children have parents,” said Todd Vandermyde, a spokesman for ABATE (A Brotherhood Aiming Towards Education), which usually lobbies in Springfield against mandatory motorcycle helmet laws.

Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat, said she always has her children wear helmets when they hit the slopes.

Opposing lawmakers ribbed Sen. Ira Silverstein, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the plan, because he said during a hearing Tuesday that he doesn’t ski.

Garrett does, though, and she argued safety should be paramount.

“I do ski,” she said. “And I’m actually going skiing this weekend.”