Last winter I needed to pop up to the shop. As I came out my front door I caught my foot in the small frame as I closed the door (still don't know how I managed to do that ). I twisted and fell backwards. Fortunately the back of my head struck the grass and not the concrete path. We'd had frost but the temperature had gone up so although the grass was hard, it wasn't as hard as it had been so my head wasn't as badly hurt as it could have been. It hurt a bit and I had a small lump on the back of my head and that was just a minor tumble. Coming off the bike and landing head-first on the road would hurt an awful lot more and due to the speed factor, would cause a lot more damage so I'd rather let the polycarbon take the brunt of that damage.

When I bought my son his first bike some years ago, I bought him a helmet to go with it - and he was told "no helmet - no bike". He wore his helmet. Most of his pals thought it was "cool" but helmets then were a lot heavier than they are now. Apart from the obvious, I like my helmet because it has a peak on it which helps keep the sun out of my eyes.

I think it is down to personal preference and I wouldn't condemn anyone for not wearing one.