Friends of Caroline Found go to Capitol, Push for Helmet Law

By Mark Carlson, Reporter

A memorial for Caroline Found is seen at the site of her fatal accident south of Highway 6 on Mormon Trek Blvd. on Friday, Aug. 12, 2011. (Kenny Knutson/SourceMedia Group)

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By KCRG Intern

Story Created: Jan 11, 2012 at 7:16 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jan 12, 2012 at 4:03 PM CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa - A group of Eastern Iowa high school students spent Wednesday at the state Capitol building in Des Moines where they pushed lawmakers to make changes to Iowa’s helmet law.

“The whole process is kind of long, and you’re just trying to keep working up the mountain, working up the mountain,” Olivia Lofgren, a senior at Iowa City West High School said. “Finally now we get our table and get to go up to the Capitol.”

Lofgren, along with a handful of other students from Iowa City West and Solon High Schools, are pushing for a bill that would require people under the age of 18 to wear a helmet while operating a moped or motorized scooter.

The students were all friends of Caroline Found, a West High student killed in a moped crash last August. Found, 17, was not wearing a helmet.

“Hopefully the Capitol knows who we are and knows what our message is, and really understands we’re just trying to help everyone in the state of Iowa,” Leah Murray, a West High senior who went to Des Moines on Wednesday said.

In December Lofgren, Murray, and Caroline Van Voorhis, who is also a senior at West High, began pushing for the law change as a way to honor Found.

“The helmet law would prevent all communities from going through what we’ve gone through,” Van Voorhis said. “It doesn’t just affect Iowa City, it affects the whole state of Iowa.”

Wednesday the teenagers set up a table in the state Capitol rotunda, where they discussed policy and statistics with lawmakers.

“We’re (Iowa) 49th in the nation for money saved and lives saved due to helmet use,” Murray said. “Which is kind of ridiculous considering Iowa is a leader in many other areas of the law.”

With assistance from state representative Jeff Kaufmann, the students have helped to craft a study bill to gauge support in Des Moines. They’re hoping an official bill will pass the legislature by the end of the current session.

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