I think there is also a third group who don't recognize the protection helmets offer. It's not a matter of telling people what to do, they just don't see the point and there are many statistics out there that show or can be twisted to show that helmets don't really offer protection.
I also think there's a difference between consequence and risk. A consequence of over exposure to the sun is skin cancer, but people have different risks of that actually happening and thus weigh that risk on whether or not they use sunscreen, and those at a higher risk won't go out without a hat and long sleeves on. Hence, the risk of injury determines my safety attire which has nothing to do with whether or not someone says I should or shouldn't do something. In slowpitch softball, I don't wear a helmet to bat or shin pads in the field; in fast pitch I do. There's a lady in our slow pitch league that wears a full catcher's helmet - "unheard" of in the league! But she's been hit too many times for her own peace of mind, so she wears it. We all have different levels of tolerance an risk but that doesn't make one right and the other wrong.