Editorial: Supporters of the proposed law that would require bicyclists to wear helmets are seriously misguided. The number of pedestrians who die yearly as a result of accidents involving automobiles is five times the number of deaths resulting from bicycle accidents, and drunken driving exacts a much higher toll than both combined. Yet there are no calls for a ban on alcohol or walking down the street.
It is silly to recommend that test pilots give up cigarette smoking because their risk of death from other causes is so high that it is unlikely they will live long enough to develop lung cancer exhibits a pattern of flawed reasoning most similar to that in the argument above.