New Jersey Enacts First-of-Kind Children’s Sports Safety Eyewear Law

Children who wear eyeglasses while participating in sanctioned athletic events will be required to don protective eyewear, under a first-of-its-kind New Jersey law. Under legislation (State Assembly Bill A-2091/State Senate Bill 1970) enacted last month, any Garden State child who wears corrective eyeglasses while participating in racquetball, squash, tennis, women’s lacrosse, basketball, women’s field hockey, badminton, paddleball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, or softball games, sponsored by a school, community, or government agency, will be required to wear protective eyewear meeting the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F803 standards for safety frames and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z87.1 standards for safety lenses. “It makes New Jersey the first state in the United States that will be protecting the eyes of children while playing sports,” said New Jersey practitioner and past AOA Sport Vision Section Chair Paul Berman, O.D., who campaigned for the legislation. Dr. Berman is director of Professional Relations and Education for Liberty Sport. Dr. Berman and the Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries, formed to promote the legislation, hope the novel New Jersey law will spur similar action in other state legislatures across the nation. This article excerpt was reprinted with permission from The AOA News, (Feb. 20, 2006, vol 44, no. 11, page 9). To view the full story online, visit http://www.aoanews.org/x5304.xml