A helmet just makes a bike ride safer, not safe. If you want fully safe, you'll take a heavy car, or preferably, stay at home.
The irony of this accident is that the protest was not against helmets, but against the helmet law.
Helmets today, boots tomorrow, body armour next year, motorcycle air-bags in five years. See where this is going? Peolle have been protesting for decades against big-brotherism, and come the day they decide ALL hot rods need air-bags retrofitted I guess many guys will all protest that too, even though you know they are safe.
It is all about freedom of choice, which is why we build and drive hot rods, not late model sedans.