A Bicycling Mystery: Head Injuries Piling Up: “The number of head

injuries has increased 10 percent since

1991, even as bicycle helmet use has risen

sharply, according to figures compiled by

the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

But given that ridership has declined over

the same period, the rate of head injuries

per active cyclist has increased 51 percent

just as bicycle helmets have become

widespread.” Do cyclists have an inflated sense of security from wearing helmets? Are their natural predators, the motorists, becoming more aggressive or more distractible? Are more people wearing ill-fitting helmets, or wearing them wrong? Is off-road riding, inherently more dangerous, accounting for the injuries? New York Times