It is an image problem...
Well, that was the answer I got when I asked if we might move forward to even think about some safety gear for flying fixed-wing in light aircraft.
There I was thinking of some sort of light helmet such as that one that David Clark does and perhaps even a suit made of something that would not melt and stick to you like some particularly nasty glue if you had a post-crash fire. You can get one in pretty colours that wouldn't look as if the Marines had landed, when your average passenger probably wouldn't even know that it was a safety item. Gloves would be a good idea too, but I didn't even ask about that!
Way back when the safety bods said that something like 75% of the fatalities in motorcycle accidents were down to head injuries, so that we ended up with compulsory helmets. I used to go about with just sunglasses, jeans and an optimistic outlook on life, but I was 17 then. Now that I am 59 I wear a helmet, a leather suit, leather gloves and high boots for motorcycling. The last time I fell off I just got up, swore a bit at my clumsiness and walked away. The first time I ripped both knees out of my jeans and bled like a stuck pig. At least I was wearing a helmet, otherwise I would probably have been knocked cold with a concussion.
When I started wearing a leather suit for biking in the States I would get lip from the hardasses for looking like a weirdo and, even worse, the faggots in Washington would sometimes take me for some sort of "leather boy." I just ignored the lot of them.
Of course the fatality numbers for car crashes are the same, but who would force the average motorist to wear a helmet? Same story for bicycling, when I wear a helmet and look like a wally, especially when I forget to take it off while shopping! "Image problems," I guess.
At least in motoring we have got far enough to use good crash safety as a sales plus. In aviation we are still in the Dark Ages, often pretending that sh*t just doesn't happen. In fixed-wing the option of wearing a helmet generally is not available. Crop-dusting, yes, but not when carrying pax.