Should helmets be mandatory for skiers and snowboarders?

It's funny when the death of a celebrity brings out calls for helmet laws, when there is really, at this point, no evidence at all the her head actually hit the ground. According to reports, she had a very minor fall while standing at the bottom of the hill. Now, I'm no doctor, but a death from such an innocuous cause suggests that she suffered from some hidden ailment, perhaps some sort of aneurysm, which was simply triggered by this fall. Something that, skiing or not, could have occurred while she was walking down the street, or sitting in an airplane. Should kids have to wear helmets? Absolutely, and any parent who sends Johnny out on the ski hill without one doesn't deserve to have kids. But should adults be forced to wear one? No, many people do far more dangerous things every day.

For sure the helmets must be mandatory; both of these sports are amazing and have long tradition. Evolution is necessary and part of this evolution is making safer the practice Is not cool wearing helmet? Let push to designer to make safer and cooler helmets. Man is not cool finish in a hospital because you don't you your helmet. Finally if the government insists a lot to use the safe belt on cars, why not putting the same attention over the helmets in the Mountains. You need to be enough old to drive a car, but you can skiing or snowboarding more and less when you are 4 years old. Does it tell you something?

Yes they should. My kids go on ski trips every year with school and they are not even mandatory. I find that insane especially since kids will always take risks and do silly things. Of course when no one else is wearing them, they don't want to wear them either, and since children don't often know what's good for them it's up to adults to ensure their safety. It's bad enough they come back with broken legs and ankles and wrists but this year it seems that there is one story after another regarding injuries and deaths, especially preventable ones. Considering the speed you travel when you ski, it seems irresponsible not to have at the very least people under the ages of 18 wear mandatory helmets. And adults as beginners would be wise to wear helmets. To quote an excerpt from one of your news articles: "A report released last year suggested that of the 26 deaths between 1990 and 2004, 14 were the result of head injuries. Helmets were worn in just two of those 14 cases. " That speaks volumes. It's so terribly tragic what happened to Natasha. A beautiful women whose husband and children have to do without now for the rest of their lives. And to those who say it wasn't preventable, think again. Most of the experts agree the type of impact she took from the back forced her brain to twist around, causing the majority of the impact to be absorbed in the FRONT of the skull, and such twisting ruptured the tiny vessels there causing a slow bleed leaving one to think they were fine when they weren't. If she had immediately sought help things might be different, but hindsight is always 20/20 in these types of tragedies. One cannot force adults to wear them but one SHOULD force children to. We are not talking about playing croquet here but a serious and dangerous sport for the unskilled.

For children YES. For adults it still should be optional. Not ever adult skier skis downhill. What about Xcountry skiers? Should they have to wear helmets too?

Here people under a certain age DO have to wear a helmet when skiing /snowboarding. It's a real shame that she passed away because of an accident..but there really is no way to keep yourself 100% safe when you're skiing or snowboarding. Avalanches, knee injuries and so many other things come into play when you're on the hill (or mountain). You could be in a sumo suit with a hockey helmet and still have some jerk plow into you from behind and seriously injure you. But..as everyone else has said..a helmet can't hurt.

No No No. Where will the nanny state end? Some people say, 'Well, if it saves even one life it is worh it.' NO IT ISN'T. We don't spend our entire lives merely dreaming up ways to keep ourselves safe. If that was the case we would all have to wear helmets in cars (GUARANTEED would save thousands of lives). There is a value in convenience, joy, freedom, and risk-taking. Life is about more than just safety safety safety. If you want to impose these kinds of rules, then, hmmm, in order to be consistent we should ban all unhealthy foods too. Ban ALL dogs as pets, cause - hey! if we do we'll probably save one life from dog attack per year. There is no end to this. PERSONAL CHOICE = FREEDOM, people. Wake up!

No Damn Way. How much more Gov. intervention do we need in our lives.

**** NO! USE THE SKI HILL AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU SUCK, DON'T ****** SKI.

Skiers should be given the option to wear a helmet and as adults, each person should make its own decision.