The most obvious one I have experience with is guys refusing to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle because they're so tuff and manly and they "just won't crash".
I wear a helmet because it will protect my beautiful face if I fall off, and because it keeps bugs and birds from hitting the aforementioned rugged bearded handsomeness at high speeds thus preventing some accidents, and because I can have one with a cool design on it.
Not just motorcycles in my case but literally any child or adult I've ever seen ride a bike or use a skateboard in my entire life while strolling through town. Not a single civilian wears a helmet these days. I see preteens rolling and doing tricks on their skateboards like they're living out some early 2000's Tony Hawk game for the Playstation. A few people even hook their strollers up to their bikes and wear nothing.
One time cops had to be called in because some vengeful people who probably would've otherwise been shooters were using the opportunity to trip riders as they rode. Did it change anything? Nope, they still wore nothing and still made themselves vulnerable to the same thing if anyone would ever want to do it again. Cops never enforced what is actually a helmet/pad mandate and I guess it's not a CPS concern either, which stands out given their history.
Only a couple of friends of mine serve as an exception to the observation. One day some peers asked "why are you wearing a helmet and pads, you know, like little girls" and I'll never forget how they responded with "why are you wearing nothing, you know, like poor people?"
I wasn't trying to define grades of douchebagness, but to tell you that your friends come off just as bad as their counterparts in your little anecdote. Since you seem to think your friends had a cool rebuttal, i suspect you're a douche too.
Yep that's the dumbest thing. I've gone through clouds of bugs that hurt my chest when I wasn't wearing my armored jacket, and I knew they would have felt worse on my face by far, but I never felt them since I never ride without the helmet.
Even disregarding the obvious safety need, wearing a helmet improves the rider's comfort by blocking bugs and debris. Maybe they think it's manly to have bugs in your teeth and nostrils?
I've never ridden a motorcycle, but I have had a bug (and part of its web) go into my mouth and down my throat while biking. Just thinking about it makes me want to gag. If, after that, you offered me a bike helmet with a front visor, I'd have put that thing on ASAP.
Now take that bug incident and make it happen at 30-50 mph? No way would I have my face hole exposed for bugs to invade! (And that's totally apart from the safety issue.)
and because it keeps bugs and birds from hitting the aforementioned rugged bearded handsomeness at high speeds
I wear a full face helmet because holy shit I know one saved my face. But even if the helmet wasn't a separator from potential meat crayon situation, I'd still wear it for this reason right here. Seriously, I've had some beetles hit my helmet so hard it made me recoil, I can't imagine taking one straight to face like that.