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Maybe ABATE of Iowa is right about adult motorcyclists. If a rider doesn’t want to wear a helmet while riding on the streets and highways, maybe he or she shouldn’t be required to. The government can’t and shouldn’t remove every element of danger from life.

We’re reminded of the advice a motorcycling expert once imparted: If you have a $100 head, buy a $100 helmet. If you have a $10 head, a $10 helmet is good enough.

So maybe some people don’t need a helmet at all.

But we strongly disagree with ABATE of Iowa state coordinator Phil McCormick on the issue of helmets for children. McCormick told The Des Moines Register that it’s up to parents to decide whether their children need helmets when they’re passengers on a motorcycle.

Actually, every society worthy of the name has laws protecting children from bad parenting. And every great society has citizens who do more than follow the law. It might be legal to shoot a cigarette out of the mouth of a 7-year-old. But we wouldn’t want to live in a place where observers would stand back and say, “Well, if that’s what they want to do …”

A political candidate once was pilloried for using the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” But it’s true. We’re all responsible for the helpless among us, or it’s not a society at all. It’s a random group of individuals and the occasional gang.

Children need protection in their early years, and it works a lot better if we do it through legislation, rather than just yelling at motorcyclists as they rumble past.

If it’s really a matter of effective lobbying on ABATE’s part, the Legislature should be ashamed of itself. But then, there’s no good excuse, lobbyists or not. We could talk about insurance rates and hospital usage, but no statistics are necessary on this issue.

Gently place your hand on the head of a child and imagine the impact of a fall on the pavement at highway speeds.

Next winter, pass a law.