Some of the top of the line helmets are works of art. They are both functional and beautiful. The Giro and Limar and Briko helmets have grace and beauty and adorn heads better than the crowns of kings and queens.
As for the safety, these modern day crowns have protected head after head in minor to very serious crashes. Cycling will be inherently unsafe to a point. It is up to all of us to take every precaution we can, then ride out to the edge. If we want total safety, we should have OSHA design our protective outfits and our safety cyles. But, my god would they be ugly and cumbersome and slow. We would drift away from the recreation we love and try something else, like street luge or blading.
Signed,
Pompous Ass