After Ms. Boxer received the following letter she contacted us to help her draft a bill that would prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.  As long as we had her ear, we added what our hearts felt would be best for all of us.

When my friend Timmy was 8, his dad bought him a dirt motorbike for his birthday. His dad taught him all about how to operate the motorcycle, about how to jump over things, and about how to beat all of his friends when they raced. Timmy loved the dirt bike, and spent a lot of time on it; he could ride it really well. Timmy was also very good at other sports, and was always picked first when kids chose teams.

As Timmy got older and went to high school, he was a good student and played varsity baseball and was on the swim team. A lot of kids looked up to him. He still rode dirt bikes, and when he got his driver's license, his parents helped him buy a fast street bike. He was a skilled rider, and his friends thought he was really cool. Timmy's dad had done a good job teaching him how to ride.

One thing Timmy's dad didn't teach him, though, was to always wear a helmet to protect his head when he rode his bikes. Even though Timmy was a very good rider, motorcycles can be dangerous, especially because car drivers very often don't see them. As Timmy was riding home from school one afternoon, a man turned left right in front of him. Timmy didn't have time to react, and hit the side of the car at 45mph. He was thrown over the car and against the pavement, which caused Timmy a lot of injuries, including a massive head wound. Sadly, Timmy went into a coma. The doctors did their very best, but nothing they did could wake Timmy up.

He slept for 3 months, and then one day, he finally woke up. The doctors discovered that Timmy couldn't talk, and he didn't recognize his friends or family. He had to have the nurses feed him with a spoon, and he wouldn't ever be able to walk again. If Timmy's dad had only taught him to wear a helmet, chances are he wouldn't have been hurt so badly, and he wouldn't have to have someone feed and bathe him for the rest of his life.

In order to protect children from irresponsible parents like Timmy's dad, it's important for us to pass legislation requiring anyone under the age of 18 to wear a DOT-approved helmet. Once a person is legally an adult, he or she can make his or her own choices about wearing a helmet or not; however, as a child or teenager, a person does not have the capacity to judge the gravity of not wearing a helmet. Just as we don't let someone under 18 enter into a legally-binding contract, we shouldn't let them endanger their lives in this manner.