A British researcher says that it could be dangerous to wear a bike helmet [1]in traffic because — bizarre as it sounds — wearing a helmet might increase the odds of a crash.

A new study [2] (if you can call this a study) shows that drivers give helmeted cyclists [2] less leeway on the road. Motorists share more of the road with organ donors bicyclists [2] who ride without helmets.

British psychologist Ian Walker, a researcher at the University of Bath, tested this theory by using himself as a guinea pig. He rode a bike [2] outfitted with a computer and an ultrasonic distance sensor to record driving patterns from 2,500 motorists. Half the time, he wore a helmet; the other half, he didn't. He found that motorists gave him an average of 3.3. extra inches of space when he wasn't wearing a helmet.

But here's the surreal part: While wearing a helmet during his experiment, he was hit twice — by a bus and a truck (without any injuries.) I guess that's why he thinks wearing a helmet "might make a collision more likely in the first place."

Hmm. I figure that bus knocked all the good sense out of him. While there's a good deal of controversy [3] about the efficacy of bike helmets [4]. Personally, I believe that they save lives and prevent brain injuries. Anyone who rides in traffic without a helmet is already brain-dead.

At least 99 percent of me thinks so. The other one percent is terribly aware that my helmet is not the protective, life-preserving device that I count on.

What worries me is not a random, quirky study like this, but the knowledge that a helmet won't help me much if I'm struck hard by a car. So, I do what cyclists everywhere do: Ride defensively and hope that drivers around me are willing to share the road.