Mayor of Middletown: Two years ago, in order to improve the safety of

Mayor of Middletown: Two years ago, in order to improve the safety of our town's youth, I led the charge for a law requiring all bicycle riders to wear helmets when riding within city limits. My opponents claim the law is a failure because, last year, we had a higher incidence of bicycle accident victims with severe head injuries than in the previous year. The more important statistic, however, is the bicycle accident fatality rate, which has dropped nearly 30 percent since the law passed. Clearly, the helmet law has been a success.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the mayor's claim that the helmet law has been a success?


A. If accident victims do not die as a result of a head injury, they often suffer from permanent brain damage.

B. While only 15% of all bicycle accidents resulting in injury occur as a result of a collision with a motor vehicle, those accidents represent 90% of fatal accidents.

C. In bicycle accidents, injuries to hands, knees, and elbows are far more common than head injuries.

D. Typically, fatality rates for bicycle accidents victims who sustain serious head injuries are twice as high when the victims are not wearing helmets as opposed to when they are.

E. The effect of the helmet law in Middletown is typical; other towns also experienced a higher incidence of head injuries but a lower fatality rate.