Originally Posted by
mconlonx
I'm not trying to make this some kind of zero sum thing. There's all kinds of things that factor into cycling safety, including helmets. No one thing is a magic bullet and perhaps the most effective cycling safety contributor is, as you say, experience.
Speaking as an opponent of mandatory helmet rules, not helmets per se, I think there's an over emphasis on head injuries which is in disproportion to the actual problem. I believe that bicycling is generally safe, though of course not absolutely safe. Individuals are (or should be) free to do whatever they feel is necessary to ensure their own safety, but governments should be focused on lowering the overall rate of accidents through things like eliminating things like poorly designed sewer grates, and better road design.