Well... if your bar is so low as to be excited at the prospect of 'living', albeit 'brain dead' then what can I say. As I've said before, I personally would rather not survive if the alternative is living as a vegetable. The smart cyclist will wear a helmet while at the same time doing everything in their power not to become involved in a situation that brings their head into hard contact with a fixed object. Everything in their power. This means riding very defensively with a surfeit of situational awareness. More of this is on the cyclist than a lot of cyclists think. The accident that really tests a helmet does NOT involve a car! If a car is involved all bets are off. Half of accidents involve a collision with a fixed object or slippery road surface or road debris, etc. Those are the accidents that bring you down hard and might involve banging your head hard against the pavement. Do not become blase about being overcautious about the riding environment because you have a helmet on.