Since my radical statement that bikes are more dangerous than cars have been trying to do some research. It appears, I know its such a rare case, that I may be wrong.
It looks like in urban areas you are about 1 in 17,000 odds of being hit by a car while in a car. On a bike it appears to be 1 in 89,000. So, you may be 5x less likely to be in an accident if on your bike. In most cases this is attributed to the overall agility of the bike.
The qualifier is (sudy in Melbourne) experience and vehicle maint. 30% of the bike accidents are single vehicle. 30% of them have poor maintenance on their bikes and a lack of experience.
Watered down the big topic at hand. If you are hit in a car you have a 1/1750 chance of dying. On a bike 1/222. So you are 5x more likely not to crash with your bike but 8x more likely to die if you do.
Greybeard and others are right. Stats on helmets are so very limited one wonders if there is anything credible out there. I think helmets are not worn to be cool, both image and temperature.
