Cherry Injury Law RSS Feed
The governor of Pennsylvania recently signed into law a bill that will help prevent concussions during high school athletic events. The Safety in Youth Sports Act was signed into law on Nov. 9 by Gov. Tom Corbett.
The law is said to help lower the occurrence of traumatic brain injuries in student athletes. Sadly, traumatic brain injuries can change a person’s life forever, whether they are suffered in an automobile accident, slip-and-fall or sports collision. Young people most commonly suffer brain injuries through sports.
The safety in youth sports act requires coaches to be trained annually on concussions and other head injuries. Those who do not comply suffer consequences under the law.
The law also requires students who may have had a head injury during a sporting event to sit out the rest of the game, until they have been properly tested for concussions.
Additionally, the Health and Education departments are required to post guidelines to help student athletes and coaches know the risks of concussions under the bill. Guidelines and other material will be issued to schools and coaches. The governor hopes that this will educate all parties involved with sports and traumatic brain injuries.
The governor also hopes that this bill will reduce the risk of brain injury in student athletes. While the governor admitted the law may be on the cautious side, it has to do with students, so the state should not take any risks, he said.
The governor is right when he says that it’s time to take concussions seriously before letting athletes destroy their lives. Pennsylvania has joined 31 other states in passing this bill. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2012.
Source: The Sacramento Bee, “Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Signs ‘Safety in Youth Sports Act’,” Nov. 14, 2011.