True enuff. Better keep it quiet then about the safety value of gloves or the nannies in need of an issue may start the war cry for mandatory glove laws to protect cyclists from DANGER. :innocent:

Gloves should be mandatory gear for every cyclist! I am just kidding of course.:) I wear them because they improve my grip and make the ride a bit more comfy. I learned the value of good fitting gloves from my days of lifting weights.

I wear fingerless gloves because I have giant gorilla hands and the fingers in normal gloves aren't nearly long enough.

To me, gloves are pretty essential safety equipment; a helmet, on the other hand, is pretty optional. I mostly wear my helmet to get my 5 year old to wear his.
In 20 years of messenger work, I had my share of spills, and getting hit by cars (went through a windshield once). I landed on my hands (on the ground, on cars, you name it) a lot more often than on my head. I've shredded many pairs of gloves through thick leather palms.
Plus, grip is better, and the value of cool tan lines can't be over-estimated: my first wife and I got invited to a great DC messenger party on the beach in Virginia years ago when a dude asked us if we were messengers due to tan patterns (from bike gloves & shorts, but tanlines from T-shirts with ripped off sleeves told him we were messengers not roadies). Hijinx ensued.
What cracks me up safety-wise is the number of people I see wearing helmets talking on their phones, or riding at night with no lights, etc. Talk about misplaced priorities!