Evidence for helmets is conflicting — I was able to find studies showing small negative and positive effects for mandatory helmet legislation, depending on the inputs considered. The universal theme is that while helmets very greatly reduce the risk and severity of head injuries when they do happen, there remains a puzzling disconnect between that undisputed fact and the much slower drop in observed head injuries even as helmet use has increased. It’s also difficult to tease out how much of the decline in cycling is due to the blame-the-victim, mitigate-rather-than-prevent rhetoric surrounding helmet use. International comparisons show that low cyclist fatality and injury rates have little to do with helmet use, but much to do with driver behavior.

A 1997 BMJ letter that I liked, by Tony Waterston, a pediatrician in Newcastle: “This smacks of victim blaming and is akin to insisting that smokers use a filter tip rather than banning tobacco advertising. I agree that helmets are protective, and I always wear one… Many cyclists object to the continual advocacy for helmets without equal (prefer­ably greater) emphasis on restrictions aimed at motorists.”

Scooped DCist by an hour:
http://dcist.com/2012/04/gray_goes_green_dc_rolls_out_ambiti.php

I’ve wanted to run a race in an aboveground garage for a while. There aren’t many around, but the recent Bike Snob welcome ride treated everyone to the view from Nats Park.