'Conor’s Law' for Helmet Safety Passes Transportation Committee on Unanimous, Bipartisan Vote

State Senator Carlo Leone (D-Stamford) announced today that a bill introduced at the behest of Ledyard mother Holly Irwin which requires children under 15 years old to wear helmets while riding a skateboard, while roller-skating or inline skating passed the Transportation Committee on a unanimous and bipartisan 35-0 vote and now heads to the floor of the House of Representatives for consideration.

The bill was introduced by Ms. Irwin in memory of her son Conor, an accomplished student-athlete who died at the age of 14 following an accidental fall from his skateboard.

The Transportation Committee – where Sen. Leone serves as Senate Co-Chair – agreed to re-name the helmet portion of the bill as ‘Conor’s Law.’

“Anyone who is a parent or who cares about children’s lives, the unanimous support this legislation received, this is for them,” Sen. Leone said. “We on the Transportation Committee didn’t want to hear another parent grieving over the death of a child that could have been prevented. I think this legislation will help prevent such tragedies in the future.”

At the March 5 public hearing on the bill, Ms. Irwin told the life story of her son Conor, an active student-athlete who played many sports and who always wore a variety of helmets, but did not wear one when skateboarding, in part because it is not required by law. He died in December 2016, 10 days after suffering a head injury following a fall from his skateboard.