Okay, I know people who never wear a helmet when they ride. There are coherent arguments to be made against bicycle helmets: they're not fantastic protection, they might lead to greater risk taking by cyclists, they send a message that riding is more dangerous than it is, etc.
To which I say bullshit. If a car screams you going 40 miles per hour, the helmet probably won't save you, but there isn't a situation where the helmet makes things worse. That slipsy fallsy thing we all do from time to time, the helmet makes sure that shit stays minor. And when you crash into something hard enough to break your bike frame, well, look at my friend Koosh's injuries, his bike frame, and his helmet.
And then tell me about how much better off he'd have been with a bare noggin when this happened. He was having a few beers and a good laugh with his friends instead of laying in the ICU or worse.
The helmet isn't perfect protection, just ask my wife who's been struggling three years now with TBI from a crash wearing a helmet. But at least she's alive to answer the question, I doubt she would be if she'd had a bare head.
Plus, a helmet gives you a great place to mount lights (a headlight that looks where you're looking is infinitely more useful than a handlebar mounted one), and it gives you something to attach a tulle mohawk to.
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