Sudo Bike, thank you so much for this exchange.
I still hold with my point of view about helmets- that they make enough of a difference to wear one every time
I ride (and that doesn't mean every one, every where in the world needs to wear one)
and I really question the value of constant diatribes about the shortcomings of helmets and the need to convince people they are unnecessary adornments, magic hats, talismans or amulets. I just don't think those discussions save lives, make people any more safe or increase ridership.
Regardless, I respect your style and your point of view and if you think you are spreading the good word and doing good (admittedly not necessarily "saving lives") but informing people then I say, "more power to you.".
For the googally challenged. By that I mean those who cannot do any research for information on their own and require threads like this to provide them statistics, data and often, biased, hyperbolic interpretation then I would suggest going to this site, which provides objectively collected data, some pro-helmet interpretations and links to sites which counter their views:
http://www.bhsi.org
For researched rational responses to many of the negatives about helmets I would suggest this site:
http://www.bhsi.org/negativs.htm