From the article:

knocked myself out, broke my nose and was left with lots of road rash and stitches on my face


That bit speaks to me. I had a few bad bicycle accidents in my college days that left me with scars on the underside of my chin and two artificial teeth. I always wear a helmet, but my standard road bike helmet didn't do a thing for those over-the-bars or over-the-car-hood crashes. So nowadays I wear a full-face mountain bike helmet. I get some giggles from road bikers, for sure, but when I'm descending over 40mph - if something happens, that's a lot of energy to put on your unprotected face.