In bike-friendly places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, it's super rare to see a helmet. A bike helmet offers reasonable protection in a solo fall, but it has nearly cosmetic effect if you're hit by a car.
But one thing you don't see in those places is huge, flat-front trucks with poor visibility and worse pedestrian impact safety. Until the US mandates pedestrian safety measures, we won't see a reversal in this trend.
Edit: I mostly bike places here in California, and I do wear a helmet 99% of the time, but I don't judge those who choose not to, because the biggest factor in bike safety is having other bikes on the road.
I was hit by a car while riding my bike, the accident was significant enough to write-off a brand-new bike (I was riding it home from the store), and I was glad to have been wearing a helmet. I would like to know why you think helmets have only a cosmetic effect.
Super rare is untrue. Rare would even be a stretch. I live in Copenhagen and use a helmet. I would claim it is common to use a helmet. Not everyone - but many do. And it is not even mandatory.
> but it has nearly cosmetic effect if you're hit by a car.
I highly, highly doubt that. Your skull is much more likely to hit the pavement in a car accident, and a helmet can turn that from instead death to a concussion or TBI. People, PLEASE just wear a helmet. All it takes is falling one time to realize how good it is to have one.
But one thing you don't see in those places is huge, flat-front trucks with poor visibility and worse pedestrian impact safety. Until the US mandates pedestrian safety measures, we won't see a reversal in this trend.
Edit: I mostly bike places here in California, and I do wear a helmet 99% of the time, but I don't judge those who choose not to, because the biggest factor in bike safety is having other bikes on the road.