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.