You've grown up in what is probably the best place in the world to ride a bike, which makes your experience enviable but not typical. Here in the car-dominated

You've grown up in what is probably the best place in the world to ride a bike, which makes your experience enviable but not typical. Here in the car-dominated USA it's a lot more dangerous to ride a bike because we're "sharing" the streets with fast cars that are sometimes inattentive or even aggressive. Plus, the maintenance of the streets themselves sometimes conspire against you, it's easy to lose control on a pothole or slick crosswalk marking. I have had a couple of falls where my head whacked the pavement, and was very glad I was wearing a helmet. Edit: This video says you're 30 times more likely to be involved in an accident in the US than in the Netherlands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2THe_10dYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2THe_10dYs