New laws

[David Potter]

I am not quite sure where we are "at" but it is becoming law in Austria for children up to 15 (?) to wear ski helmets for safety reasons.

See  http://tirol.orf.at/stories/408832/

Such laws will need to be passed in each Bundesland and it looks imminent.

It's a good idea anyway.  I have sat waiting in hosital casualty with someone who had an accident and the statistics on the wall about the huge number of ski accidents was absolutely frightening.

Don't get caught out.  Make sure your family are protected anyway.

[Jafa]

Didnt this not happen about a year ago. So far its only the smaller resorts that have the restrictions. The bigger more popular ones didnt subscribe for obvious reasons. Not that Im agreeing with them of course.

[David Potter]

If it's the law - then it applies everywhere - surely ?

That said, most Brits assume that Austrian law doesn't apply to non Austrians so they drive here with summer tyres on their cars.

[Jafa]

"As there's a lot of speculation around the legal requirement to wear ski helmets in Austria, I've checked with the Austrian Tourist authorities and received this clarification :-


Currently there is only one federal province (Lower Austria) where a law has been passed, which makes helmets compulsory. This law will be enforced by the 1st of March. For all other parts of Austria helmets are only recommended, (even though there have been lots of discussions).

That law only applies for youngsters until the age of 15.


Of course, this may change but for now it appears that helmets will only be mandatory in Lower Austria - the region surrounding Vienna in the East of the country - which affects relatively few ski resorts (not including Niederau or Mayrhofen).

If there are any further developments, I'll append them to this post. "


This is what I read earlier this year. Has the Tirol passed any legislation since then to bring the Tirol up to the same as Lower Austria?

[David Potter]

A nice constructive post.

Thank you !

That's what is forum is really all about.

(I'm no longer under 15 anyway  )

[movedtoaustria]

FROM EXPERIENCE - I SPENT 3 WEEKS LAST YEAR TRAVELLING TO INNSBRUCK EVERY DAY WITH THE WIFE OF A FRIEND WHO HAD 3 BLEEDS IN HIS BRAIN AS A RESULT OF FALLING AND NOT WEARING A HELMET. HE WAS IN INTENSIVE CARE AND WAS EVENTUALLY MEDIVAC'ED BACK TO UK.
HE HAS NOW RETURNED TO WORK AND SKIED 3 WEEKS AGO - WEARING A HELMET. DONT BE ANOTHER STATISTIC - WEARING A HELMET SHOULD NOT BE UP FOR DISCUSSION - IT IS A MUST. INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD MAKE IT COMPULSORY OR INSURANCE INVALID.
authorities reluctant to make it law in case they lose skiers to hat wearing regions - discuss

regards
"movedtoaustria

[CPTJ]

Hi Everyone!

We chose to wear helmets this year and found them to be extremely advantageous even on the nursery slopes.  Before the nursery slopes in fact!

Whilst sitting putting my boots on in the shop my son turned round quickly with his skis and wacked me on the head.  (you can tell we're still novices).

Also when waiting for the drag lift, my husband discovered that the guy wasn't going to help him get on, and it swung past him and wacked him on the head.

Thank you for helmets!!

I agree that insurers should make it compulsory.  It wasn't that long ago that motorcycle helmets weren't compulsory, but who would consider driving without one now?

Looking forward to our next trip!


CPTJ

[Jafa]

Clive?

[salty]

After skiing for about 20 years without a helmet with no problems we all bought them this year. On the third day my wife had a really bad fall and landed heavily on her head. The helmet was cracked right down one side and if it wasnt for the helmet she would have at least suffered from concussion. Only downside was having to spend another 80 quid on a helmet the next day.They also keep your head and ears nice and warm and we noticed that for the first time this year there were virutaslly no skiers without helmets, a complete reversal from 3 years ago.

[scoobie]

our eldest daughter (21) finally bought a helmet due to having a fall in january. shes a good  skiier, ski's with the RAF etc and the fall didnt do any damage, it was just a fall but for some reason it concerned her enough to make her buy a helmet. 

we are also motorbikers and horseriders - i certainly wouldnt get on a bike without my helmet and cringe when i see people on their trikes on a motorway with no helmet.  As for horseriding, i can remember the days when you didnt have to wear a hat as a kid. But i had a really bad fall 15 years ago which dislocated my collar bone, broke some ribs etc. The hat broke my nose just from the impact of my head hitting the ground, but i am so thankful that i had the hat on otherwise i would probably not be here writing this.