I live in the Netherlands, never ever did I see anyone with a helmet up until recently (all of a sudden people put them on their kids). I learned to ride a bike at 4, never with a helmet. I have never seen anyone with head injury. Perhaps it is because we don't go that fast, a typical bike looks like this: [0], no gears, relaxed posture. For Mountain biking I do wear a helmet, as does my 3yr old son, but not for normal biking.

"It only takes a very minor fall and some bad luck to end up with brain swelling, cracked skull, or a corpse." I really don't believe that, you are just spreading fud, I have seen people fall but you must be pretty slow to react or go really pretty fast if you can't just put your arms in front of your head or step of a falling bike.

It's easy, never force people to wear a helmet, allow them to arrive at work with hair intact and without hassle, if you value a healthy population that enjoys bicycling (yes yes our views on that are probably the same).

[0] https://www.google.nl/search?q=typical+dutch+bike&source=lnm...