[tremon]

because we hate helmets, not because we did research

Actually, we did. From [0] (the link to the study itself is on that page too):

> A recent Dutch study (2021) concludes that many people expect to make fewer bike rides when mandatory helmet laws are introduced. These findings suggest that such a law would have a negative effect both on bike usage and on public health in general.

In addition to the standard arguments already posted here about safety in numbers, efficacy of a helmet, and infrastructure design, they also mention a few practical problems with helmets:

- What to do with the helmet when you're not wearing it? A good helmet is too big to just store in a coat pocket or a handbag.

- What to do if you lose your helmet or it gets stolen? How will you make it home then?

[0] https://www.fietsersbond.nl/de-fiets/accessoires/fietshelmen...

[Fogest]

I experience the same delema's when I ride a motorcycle and have to lug around an even bigger/heavier/more expensive helmet. I sometimes will opt for a car over motorcycle simply because of the PPE element. However, my solution to that problem is not to skip wearing my PPE. I am not sure it should be the same for cycling either. In places like the Netherlands I guess it can make more sense for PPE to not have as much importance as you're going to have far less risk of an head injury compared to a rider in many North American cities.