Planning to not crash does not seem like a very good plan. A good helmet, properly worn, can indeed prevent a crash from becoming very, very bad news.

wgscott : I do appreciate the VT tests, as they are better than nothing, and no one else seems to be doing it. However, I also think that much can be gleaned from personal examinations of helmets. Round, smooth outer surfaces are less likely to catch on the pavement, and hence less likely to lead to neck injuries and other rotational force injuries; this is why I stay away from helmets that have the ducktail designs in the rear. Thicker is better, other things equal, and you can see (by holding helmets side-by-side) that some are thicker than others. (And hence heavier, too.) And I strongly agree that retention systems are crucial, as a properly-fitted and worn helmet will always outperform a badly-fitted and poorly-worn helmet. (I've seen that first-hand with a riding mate who, like many people, wore his chin strap very loose -- he crashed and was concussed badly, to the point of having a brain bleed and a helicopter ride. Same thing will happen if a retention system does not reliably keep the helmet firmly strapped to your head.)

My feeling about MIPS is that it is not convincingly proved to be helpful, but seems unlikely to be harmful -- so my current helmet has it, and any helmets I buy moving forward will have it, or something like it.