the reason being that, your hands will not have much weight pushing them down on the pavement. therefore they skid, not grind.
i would wear my full gloves when going on the highway (which was a rare occurrence), but used my bike mostly in the city; where, i would add, half helmets give you a far better awareness of your surroundings -> less accidents.
i've had 3 accidents in my life.
1) guy stops at stop sign, waits for me to get close, then steps on the gas.
80+yo driver who subsequently had his license taken away. bike destroyed. i was in full helmet, gloves and jacket with back protector; jeans + trainers.
2) too much gas at the traffic light, bike spins out under me. scratches to the side of the bike.
3) got clipped by another bike and slid 50 yards, slight scratch to the palm of my hand, slight contusion to my leg.
would like to blame it on him, but then again i had my eyes closed because i had actually decided to try to kill myself. go figure. maybe that's why i was riding in the first place.
protip - stay away from women that you know will break your heart.
broke the fairing of my superblackbird and the clutch lever.
i hate to be *that* guy but this is the reason why i am now a car person and not a bike person; if you are not prepared to drive defensively, don't ride a bike.
i spent ten years in an insane traffic that you guys have never seen (pre-Rutelli rome), first four on a kitted out moped. driving insanely, with complete disregard for the law, drunk or high, often with another person's life at my responsibility.
we all did. every single one of my friends did. we lived in a shit country full of potholes, oil from buses, tram tracks, and criminal drivers, with zero protection.
preparing for a crash is idiotic; the only way to not crash is to be aware of everything, and to never be in a position where you can be hit, because they will, hit you. play the brain game or die. and you can die even with full protection, there's nothing you can wear that will protect you from getting run over by a bus.
if you want to go somewhere, and be relaxed, you need a car.