Motorcycle riders have the right to increase their risk of serious head injuries by not wearing helmets, if they choose to do so. That thinking was at the heart of the repeal of Pennsylvania's helmet law in September 2003.

Many people who have nothing to do with motorcycles share the thinking of many cyclists that the helmet law infringed on riders' freedom.

The repeal of the law responded to the wishes of many individual riders and groups such as the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE), which fought for years to have the law changed.

Now, with a full year having passed without a helmet law, officials are trying to examine the impact of the repeal - whether it can be ascertained that more cyclists have died or been seriously injured as a result. One eye-opening statistic is that motorcycle crash fatalities decreased 8 percent last year, but the Pennsylvania chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians downplays the significance of that number, pointing out that the state set a record for motorcycle fatalities in 2003. The president of that group says its unscientific review of motorcycle crash patients at trauma centers last summer showed that riding helmetless was linked to a threefold increase in traumatic brain injuries.

A study geared toward more precisely measuring the repeal's effect in the Keystone State is under way and a second was about to get started.

Regardless of their findings, the studies should not sound a drumbeat for a new helmet law; adult cyclists should have the right to make their own decision.

However, it is right that such data be collected so cyclists can make more-informed decisions on whether to opt for helmet use.

Helmet use is a source of added protection; that is without question. However, cyclists should continue to decide for themselves whether decreasing their risk of head injuries or death is really what they want to do.