Quote from jem:
I had a few bikes growing up. I sold my last bike very shortly after they made a helmet law in CA.
I was only riding a 550 and found that to be too light for highways. So I was using it for commuting, especially for school parking lots.
I found that when I wore my full helmet. I had much less awareness of what was around me. I felt a little disoriented because I was not getting the sensory input I was used to.
I know that as you start to go fast the wind noise cuts out most other sounds but driving between the beach where I lived and school I was not going all that fast.
So my calculus was, sure the helmet may save me some crashes but the crashes they would save me in were some of the ones I would avoid by having the helmet off.
Wow magna I wrote this as you were writing.