The Senate Transportation Committee yesterday, after two days of hearings, killed SB 1072, Sen. Diane Bilyeu's proposal to require bicycle helmets for children 12 and younger when they ride on public roads. The measure was killed on a party-line vote, with only Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, and Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, supporting it. A disappointed Bilyeu, who proposed the bill after a constituent approached her whose young daughter survived a severe bike accident only because of her helmet, said Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, "came in and said he was concerned about mandating to people what they could and couldn't do." Her constituent and his daughter traveled to Boise for the hearing on the bill. Bilyeu said, "To me, we live in a different time now. We have more people. And if anything, the bike helmet bill was an attempt to educate people."

Said Bilyeu, "We're one of the few states that does not regulate this for children, and we know the costs."