41 A ten year nationwide study of the effectiveness of wearing a helmet while bicycling indicates that ten years ago approximately 35 percent of all bicyclists reported wearing helmets whereas today that number is nearly 80 percent Another study however s

The writer of the newsletter has addressed the increase number of bicycling accidents in the newsletter. The writer suggests that government should launch a education program for the awareness of the same. But the reasons mentioned by the writer are not ambiguous and hence they need to be questioned.

The writer mentions the fifteen-year nation wide study of the effectiveness of wearing protective gear while bicycling and suggests that 40% of the skaters reported wearing protective gear whereas today the percentage is 85. We need to know whether the study mentioned by the writer is reliable. We also need to know whether the study was conducted by the same people over the course of 15 years or were different people involved. Study performed by different set of individuals can provide different results.

The writer further writes that another study claims that the number of accidents caused by bicycling has increased by 200 percent and hence it demonstrates that the riders feel safer while protective gear and they take more risks. We need to know out of the accidents taken place, how many are those of the people wearing protective gear. It will help us understand which kind of people have under gone the accidents and whether there is correlation between the number of people wearing protective gear and number of accidents.

The writer says the accidents have increased by 200%. But in the course of 15 years the population has increased. That means the number of accidents is tripled. We need to know whether the survey has the population aspect into consideration. Also has the survey considered the other factors like the roads, traffic, rash drivers, etc. in to consideration. As I mentioned earlier the population has surely increased over the fifteen years. There are more cars on the roads. and the streets are narrower due to the building built close together. So the number of accidents can also depend on that. Also many a times it may not be the fault of the skater but some other external factor. We need to understand whether the survey has taken into consideration the reasons of the accidents of the skaters. This will help us get an clearer outlook on whether the safety gear is actually the reason that the people take more risk.

The writer mentions that a education program concentrating on the factors other than the protective gear use that are necessary for safety is to be conducted by the government. But what are those other factors? The answer to this question might help the government to think upon the factors and study the seriousness associated with them.

I believe that the article has too many unanswered questions and the writer has made many assumptions and not compared the two studies by taking a look at all the consequential factors. If the questions mentioned above are answered the government may find it easier to evaluate the recommendation.