I’m currently working on some legislation for mandatory helmets, and the view you’ve expressed here seems perfectly in line with what I was hoping to get passed into law.

Keri… Of the three boned-headed things I’ve done in the past 6 years that caused me to wreck, two of them occurred on residential streets. I try not be bone-headed these days

Your last statement is the best: “Whatever you want. Whatever makes you comfortable. I no longer hold an opinion about the helmet choices of other bicyclists.”

I get so tired of nannies and busybodies scolding everyone for not wearing helmets. One local bike blogger tried to get the whole community to pressure a popular bike shop manager to wear a helmet. He’s been commuting for three decades and knows the best practices of cycling. She’d been riding for two years and still insisted on riding straight in right-turn lanes to stay out of the way (I think she still does, despite attempts to educate her). On that same blog there have been numerous posts scolding people to wear helmets and not a single one offering advice on how to avoid crashes.

Like I wrote elsewhere: A lawyer asked me once when do you need a helmet? Answer: Before your head smacks the road, but you’ll never totally know when.