Ministry considers altering helmet sizes for children

The Ministry of Economic Affairs will study the feasibility of having manufacturers alter the sizes of children's helmets as current products on the market are too large for most children, an official said yesterday.

Ni Shih-wei (倪士瑋), a section chief at the ministry's Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, said the bureau will hold a meeting to discuss the issue next week at the earliest.

Ni pointed out that of all helmet products that have passed the bureau's inspection, the smallest size is 52.5cm in circumference.

The discussion will focus on whether to revise the smallest size down to 48cm, he said.

He was responding to a proposal by Chinese National Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓), who argued that the lack of suitable helmets for children posed a serious threat to children's safety.

Chou said that accidents were the top cause of death of children under 14 years old in the country last year, accounting for 30.9 percent of deaths in that age group.

Of these accident-related deaths, 50 percent resulted from motorcycle accidents, Chou said.

Also, a survey conducted by the Bureau of Health Promotion indicated that 54.9 percent of children between one and 12 years old "never wear a helmet or only wear a helmet occasionally" while riding on a motorcycle, because there was no helmet suitable for children, he said.