You do realize that falling off your bike without a helmet, no cars in sight whatsoever, can still give you a concussion and brain damage? That's the reason you should wear one.

I have been in several bike and scooter accidents, only 1 was caused by a car and in all but one my helmet saved me from a worse fate. Most mountain bikers wear helmets well away from cars.

I want car drivers to act more carefully around me

Terrible reason.

I have no need for bicycle helmets because the environment is calm and safe (lots of bicycle infrastructure here).

Better reason.

Your head squishes like a watermelon when a car drives over it exactly the same way whether you are right or wrong.

Strange thing citing a German. As a rule of thumb at least 2/3 of adults in Germany wear helmets, and all kids under 12 .

Shit, you're right, actually. My doctor growing up telling me that a helmet protects my brain, spine, and face from lifelong, debilitating injury that he's seen all too many times was probably a stupid idiot who thinks people fall off bikes sometimes even when they think they won't. What a drip!

I can't remember the last time i fell off on my commute to work

That's called a traumatic brain injury sweetie.

On a serious note, it really happened to a friend. He went from riding his electric scooter home on a Friday night to being in the ER with a concussion, collapsed lung and 8 broken ribs in a blink of an eye. We suspect a hit and run but no witnesses and no memories of it. He was wearing a helmet.

I can’t remember the last time i fell off on my commute to work.

The only time I've hit my head while biking was on my way home from running an errand (so not exactly commuting, but still utility cycling). I was riding past a construction site and, being an engineer, was distracted looking at the structure when my wheels caught the edge of a metal plate covering a hole in the road. I keep my broken helmet as a sort of memento mori, because it definitely would've been bad if I hadn't been wearing one.

On an individual basis, IMO it's always safer to wear a helmet than not. On a societal basis, helmets for biking should not be required because it's better to have more people biking than to choose to drive instead.

I wear a helmet during my commute because after I'm hit by a car and launched from the hood, my head may hit the pavement and split open.

I can’t remember the last time i fell off on my commute to work.

I'm not worried about falling off. I'm worried about being murdered by the people in cars.

But I agree there are times when a helmet isn't necessary. I don't wear a helmet on bike paths, when streets are closed, etc. - basically whenever there are no cars.