A special case in the U.S. is that I’ve heard that car drivers have an unusually large ire against cyclists. They see cyclists as a stereotype; i.e. using a ra

A special case in the U.S. is that I’ve heard that car drivers have an unusually large ire against cyclists. They see cyclists as a stereotype; i.e. using a racing bicycle, wearing spandex, going dangerously fast around both people and cars, not respecting traffic laws, and, crucially, wearing helmets. If you are biking using a normal bicycle, while wearing normal street clothes, but are wearing a helmet, this might make drivers associate you with the stereotype and therefore feel safe in hating you and your bicycle. You have changed from “a normal person on a bicycle” to the dreaded cyclist. If this is so, then it might be that the helmet in fact did not make you any safer, on balance.