"Will someone please think of the children?" - Helen Lovejoy

A CO bill requiring helmets for all minors on motorcycles passed the state House, but is stalled in the Senate. Apparently it was all set to go until some Dems unexpectedly voted against it. Obviously they hail from the "Children Haters" bloc of the Democratic Party (we already know that the GOP hates children, so this is nothing new from them).

Before getting worked up over the political meaning of the bill, I keep looking for actual stats on non-helmeted kids and their injuries. Honestly, as near as I can tell the only kids affected would be kids who don't have mother's and who's father's are idiots. Because no way, no how does Mrs. Unknown Blogger let me ever, ever take Unknown Blogger Jr. for a ride on a motorcycle if he's not wearing a helmet. Period. And if I did, I'd need a helmet to reenter the house. Not only that, but every motorist I passed would give me a major stink eye for blazing down the highway with a helmetless Jr on the back of my ride. You just couldn't pull this off. Which leads me to the question, just how many kids would this this bill really affect? Usually in these types of bills you get things like, "Passing this legislation will help save the lives of the 1000 kids who show up in Colorado emergency rooms each day for not wearing a helmet while riding on the back of a motorcycle." But we're not getting that, we're getting much vaguer comments like this one from Sen. Peter Groff (D-Denver)

The issue here is the safety of kids. We have a responsibility to save them. Yes, it's an inconvenience on the family, but the issue is it will save lives."

No mention of how many, how often, or how anything. A Rocky Mountain News editorial gives lots of stats on general motorcycle incidents, but nothing on children in motorcycle accidents, especially non-helmeted ones. You'd think the editorial board would at least get to the meat of the matter. Score another one for shoddy journalism.

I get the feeling this bill is like passing the "Protecting Children from Martians Act of 2007" or passing a law banning letting children play in the middle of highways with magnets. Both are no brainers on as far as protecting the children, but are they necessary?

By the way, I'm nominating Helen Lovejoy as the official spokesperson and symbol of the Nanny State. Way to go Mrs. Lovejoy and congratulations.