Recently, researchers from the department of sports science at
the University of Innsbruck in Austria stood on the slopes at a
local ski resort and trained a radar gun on a group of about 500
skiers and snowboarders, each of whom had completed a lengthy
personality questionnaire about whether he or she tended to be
cautious or a risk taker. The researchers had asked their
volunteers to wear their normal ski gear and schuss or ride down
the slopes at their preferred speed. Although they hadn’t
informed the volunteers, their primary aim was to determine
whether wearing a helmet increased people’s willingness to take
risks, in which case helmets could actually decrease safety on
the slopes. What they found was reassuring. To many who hit the
slopes with regularity, the value of wearing a helmet can seem
self-evident. It protects your head from severe injury. Indeed,
studies have concluded that helmets reduce the risk of a serious
head injury by as much as 60 percent. But a surprising number of
safety experts and