I'll offer a different point of view.
I will take and pass my bike test one day and ride at home, I will wear full protection when I do so.
I am currently in Thailand, a car will cost too much to rent for 6 months so the middle ground is a scooter. I am renting, I do not own/have protective gear beyond a helmet, I do not want to buy full protective gear for 6 months of riding a scooter a few KM a day.
It's a risk, it's a risk I weighed up for a month before hiring. I am WELL aware of the dangers, even at relatively low speeds.
By the same token I am well aware of the risks of walking along the side of the road, riding a bicycle and generally being anywhere near the road at all in Thailand.
It's a risk versus "reward" scenario and for 6 months, on a scooter, in the low distances I travel (save the lecture about it could only be 200metres) I am happy to ride a scooter without full protection.
Back home in circumstances I can own proper and full protective gear to ride when I eventually do I will own it and wear it.
Am I an idiot? Well, some of you may chose to make that judgement. I am a grown man capable of my own decision making, am not ignorant to the dangers and am making the best of a situation I am in.