i know this is a pretty dificult subject because there are many anti-helmet vs helmet advocates. heres my experience on this.

My wife told me i HAD to use a helmet because she needed a father for out daughter, i wasn't very pleased, but i started looking for a skateboard helmet/ xtreme sport closed helmet. Looking geeky was out of the question! whent to a couple of shops and only found child sizes! so i went to the lbs, were i stoped caring and bought the less geeky helmet i could find....still geeky..

a couple of months later i was riding, spaced out, and BAM! i ram into the sidewalk broke my elbow. The whiplash from the fall broke a big shunk of helmet....

after that day i dont care how it looks...looking geeky is way better than scaring my face!