Helmets: Yay or Nay?

I've been skimming through Bicycling and the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist by Bob Mionske in preparation for a bike take-over event that we are planning for June. 

It's a pretty detailed description of the laws around cycling and would be a very useful reference for most cyclists.  It gets a little bit lawyer-jargonny in some places, but reading this book is definitely easier than trying to figure out what the fuck the politicians meant when they wrote the damn laws.  For that reason, I recommend it.  It's unfortunate that there is no discussion of Canadian laws, but I'm sure much of the content will translate into the Canadian context. 

The following is my favourite exerpt thus far:

"What is often missed in all of the debate surrounding helmet requirements is a discussion of what protection helmets are actually capable of providing... when reporting fatal cycling accidents, the news media typically mentions whether the cyclist was wearing a helmet even if the cyclist's injuries were not head injuries.  This lack of critical thinking indicates a widespread belief that helmets somehow protect cyclists in all falls.  The truth is, helmets don't even protect cyclists from head injuries in all falls, let alone protecting cyclists from the other serious injuries that sometimes prove fatal.  This is because helmets are actually designed to prevent injury during low-speed impacts - 11 to 14 miles per hour..."

This is what I've been saying all along, yet somehow I keep getting flack from people (both cyclists and noncyclists) who have drunk the helmet kool-aid.  If I get schmucked by a lifted Dodge truck on my ride to work, I'm likely going to have some pretty severe internal injuries and broken bones.  And my helmet isn't going to protect me from those injuries.  In fact, if the truck is moving fast enough, my helmet will probably be obliterated and I will have head injuries regardless. 

A lifted Dodge truck... scary, no?

But people say I should wear a helmet "just in case".  Well, if that's the philosophy we're going by, I should wear full body-armour "just in case".  And you drivers should wear helmets too!  It's not like a seat-belt has ever prevented someone from getting a head-injury in a car crash.

Arg.

In sum, I accept what a helmet can do and what it can't.  If there is a risk that I will fall off my bike and bonk my head, I will wear a helmet.  Thus, I wear a helmet when mountain biking, due to all the trees and rocks and my general lack of skill.  I also wear a helmet when ro-ad biking, because I go pretty fast and I could crash on the shoulder or into the ditch.  I realize that the helmet will not save me from being hit by a truck, Thai tattoos, or the humiliation of falling.

I will not wear a helmet when biking to work, because I just don't consider biking on flat pavement at low speed to be sufficiently risky to justify having bad hair all day long.