Precisely, just as I said in an earlier post, there are a host of attitudes and precautions one can employ. If someone is riding in traffic while daydreaming and listening to an ipod, or riding at night with no lights or reflectors across a busy highway, they're dramatically multiplying their risk through foolish behavior, helmet or no.

Btw, back to an earlier point about exaggerated claims for what helmets can do, mine, of US manufacture, has prominent warning labels telling you what type of cycling it is not for and states in bold, "No helmet can protect against all possible impacts and serious injury or death can occur." If someone is claiming that bike helmets are magical shields against all injury, they're probably not getting that info from the helmets themselves.