>>1742187The point of a helmet is to reduce the severity of trauma you are going to sustain once you kiss the tarmac at speed. Since probability of kissing pavement is always non-zero and increases with exposure, you _are_ going to.
You don't wear other kinds of armor as a trade-off, as armor is constricting. This, with a correction for the discipline in mind, we prefer to protect the body part that can sustain most severe injuries.
Scrapes here and there on your chin will not kill you. Neither will broken bone. But a hit to the head, even on a road bike, _will_ cause lasting trauma.
A few weeks ago I hugged the ground at significant speed ( ~20mph ) at a city park, doing a little freeriding ( inb4 - epic handling skills ). I broke my collar bone to a level that required surgery ( God bless socialism for paid sick leave and $0.0 treatment cost ). I don't remember how I fell. However, I hit the ground hard enough to break a helmet, yet sustained no injuries to the head.
We can argue how much did the helmet help. But at the very least, it saved me from a concussion and, most likely, saved me from spending $300 on new perscription glasses. In the end - I dusted myself off and marched to the hospital to get patched up.
Pretty good score for $30 spend in Decathlon.
Pic related. My surgical scar after waking up after surgery.
