Well, per capita is pretty meaningless, as the Dutch ride so much more per person.
Anyway there should be more discussion about what kind of bicycle.
Racing bikes go fast, your feet are in toeclips, you're in a bent down position - those things are dangerous. And everybody in the Netherlands wears a helmet riding them.
E-bikes can go very fast, cars underestimate their speed, people wear helmets.
But city or transport bikes, they go very slow (like 15km/h), you sit upright and can easily evade trouble or put a foot to the ground. Falls happen and old people break legs or hips sometimes, but to hit the ground with your head would be very very unusual. Those are the bikes we don't use helmets on.
I ride a bike daily in Amsterdam, and almost everyone on an E-Bike is cruising at 20-25 km/h.
It's common to see people up that to 32 km/h (20 mph), which you can do by setting the limits to US ones instead of EU ones, and trivial on some bikes.
None of these people are wearing helmets, or close enough to nobody.
I only see people on E-Bikes that can legally reach speeds of 40-50 km/h or so wear helmets.
Those look like bicycles, but are legally classified as light motorcycles. They require license plates, helmets etc.
I think mandatory helmet laws are dumb, but let's not misrepresent Dutch cycling.
The kids these days are using clipless pedals (stupid name to distinguish them from toe-clips) which connect to a cleat on the bottom of your cycling shoes. Once practised, a twist of your ankle is all that's required to get your foot free. When not practised, you see a cyclist falling over slowly to the side when they forget to unclip at a traffic light.
It only takes an extra split second to twist your foot out of a toe clip, but in the event of a sudden and unexpected wipeout that split second can make all the difference.
Clipless should be easier to disengage from than toeclips. With toeclips you should be tightening up the straps to keep your foot firmly attached for pedalling, but for city/commuting you'd likely have them looser so you can free your foot without touching the straps.Toeclips usually involve more of a pulling action to free your foot than a twist - I'd consider them slower than clipless.
Clipless clips are still a type of toe clip. You literally clip your toes into the pedals. Worst term ever.
Many years ago, when I was still using clipless I lost control on a patch of gravel. Momentum had my body rotating away from my bike such that one foot unclipped easily, but the other was rotating the wrong way to unclip, and I ended up twisting my knee pretty good.
It's a stupid name, but you do not clip your toes into the pedals at all. The clip attaches to a cleat at the bottom of your shoe which will be typically positioned at the ball of your foot or mid-sole - not your toes.
I use SPD (i.e. MTB two-bolt cleats) on my road bike and the worst problem I had with clipless was when one bolt had loosened and then fallen out during a ride. I thought that my right foot had a lot of float and when I stopped to examine it, I couldn't get my shoe released at all as it was attached with just one bolt and thus could rotate. I ended up undoing the shoe to get my foot free and after looking to see what the problem was, I decided to ride the rest of the way home (10 miles or so away) and fix it there.
Luckily, I unclip with my left foot (UK, so we're on the left side of the road) so I was fine until I got home and had to take my shoe off again to fully dismount. It's worth checking SPDs for a loose bolt from time to time.
Yes it is. I've only come off a handful of times, but I never noticed my feet being trapped - after a while it becomes almost a subconscious action.
Toeclips are considered more dangerous as you often need to loosen the straps first to free your foot. I know one person that broke bones in his foot when riding up a curb at the wrong angle (i.e. wheel slips) when using toeclips. (I also hurt my wrist when using modified toeclips on a unicycle and didn't get my foot free in time).
They're still in use, but probably more likely on a fixie than a road/racing bike.
Anyway there should be more discussion about what kind of bicycle.
Racing bikes go fast, your feet are in toeclips, you're in a bent down position - those things are dangerous. And everybody in the Netherlands wears a helmet riding them.
E-bikes can go very fast, cars underestimate their speed, people wear helmets.
But city or transport bikes, they go very slow (like 15km/h), you sit upright and can easily evade trouble or put a foot to the ground. Falls happen and old people break legs or hips sometimes, but to hit the ground with your head would be very very unusual. Those are the bikes we don't use helmets on.
I think most riders in the US ride racing bikes.