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A RULE AND REGULATION relating to the enforcement of King County bicycle helmet regulations requiring helmet use by all age cyclists; amending R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.04.010 and repealing R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.01.010, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.01.020, R&R 03-05, Section 1 (part), and BOH 9.01.030, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.01.100, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.07.005, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.07.010, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.07.020, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.10.010, R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.15.010 and R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.16.010.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE KING COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH:
SECTION 1. R&R 84, Section 1 (part), as amended, and BOH 9.04.010 are hereby amended to read as follows:
A. ((Head injuries are a major cause of death and disability associated with the operation of a bicycle on public roadways and bike paths. Every year approximately one thousand (1,000) Americans die of bicycle-related injuries. Approximately seventy-five percent (75%) of those deaths are due to head injuries. A significant number of those individuals who survive head injuries don't return to a normal life. They are often left with profound, disabling and long-lasting conditions. From 1989 through 1998, there were thirty-five (35) bicycle-related deaths and 2,003 bicycle-related hospitalizations in King County, including Seattle.
B. Bicycle helmets have been shown to prevent head injuries suffered by bicycle riders during a crash or fall. Studies completed in 1989 and 1996 by investigators at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center show that helmet use could reduce the number of head injuries involving bicycling by sixty-nine percent (69%) to eighty-five percent (85%). The Medical Exam...
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