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Bikes are great, I commute on a bike in a US city with decent infrastructure. I still wear a helmet every single time I get on a bike.

Even low speed crashes or encounters with pedestrians can result in serious head injuries.

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People misunderstand the purpose of bike helmets; they're not so you can charge into a car and survive, they're so your head survives the fall to the ground from 7 feet up.

The typical Dutch response to this is “You can fall and hit your head when walking too, but no one walks around wearing a helmet.”

This fits with the view I have from my social circles in America of the Dutch as largely being defiant, proud, and an amazingly fun culture/people :)

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