I have not peeked in here for years. S.O.S. I am not even sure how this issue is so debatable. I think a few things have been resolved here tho:
Safety helmets are readily available for almost any sport. Wear one if you want to. (debatable?)
A crash helmet MIGHT help an individual avoid unnecessary head trauma under CERTAIN conditions. (debatable?)
If your non-helmet head gets cracked open the news media will ALWAYS mention the lack of a helmet. If you were wearing a helmet the odds are about 50/50 that it will be mentioned. (debatable?)
Modern helmets are lighter, more comfortable, and better ventilated than ever before. Certainly as light and much cooler than a baseball hat (if you spend way more $$$ than a baseball hat). (debatable?)
Depending on the crowd you hang with, wearing a helmet can make you look dorky OR lack of a helmet can make you look like an amateur. (debatable?)
Insurance companies who require helmet use at sanctioned events have spearheaded the whole helmet industry by MAKING people wear them. (debatable?)
Some cyclists like to wear costumes when they ride. A helmet can be a fine matching accessory for a cycling costume - purchased with absolutely no eye toward real safety. (debatable?)
The vast majority of cyclists on Earth do not wear helmets when they cycle and some manage to live through the experience. (debatable?)
If you are an adult and NOT participating in a sanctioned event that requires helmet use then you are FREE to wear one or not. (debatable?)
Almost no one (outside of a few friends and relatives) even CARES is you smash your grape on the concrete and die. (debatable?)
Just for the record, I have never hit my head due to a bicycle crash and I just made 56 years. I started wearing a helmet in 1989 due to a sanctioned event. I liked it and I kept on wearing it. I am going to wear some kind of hat anyway to shield me from sun. My helmet is cooler than most hats, does not blow off my head, gives my rear-view mirror a place to clip, and might...just MIGHT...keep me from getting stitches in my grape or worse. OH...and I don't give a rat's belly-button lint-ball what anyone else thinks of me one way or another. Nor do I feel the need to tell other adults what to wear.
OK...let's keep up the debate! We are very near 200,000 views here!