Agreed. I've been riding for 34 years without putting down (except for a few embarassing incidents at less than walking speed), and put in enough miles to have circled the earth a few times. It's not a matter of if, but when. It was my stepbrother - the closest thing you'll ever meet to Hank Hill - who taught me to ride, so confidence + a healthy dose of paranoia is what's gotten me this far.
Being in a university town, I can't tell you how many 'winners (short for "Darwin Award Candidate") I've seen riding around in flip-flops and and beachwear. I tell them if they're not going to wear a helmet and some abrasion protection, at the very least lose the flip-flops. They're chainbait, for one, and novice riders will put their feet down reflexively and at the most inopportune moments.
I handed the girlfriend of one of these 'winners a ziplock bag, and told her that it was so that she'd have something in which to admire that pretty new pedicure of hers after she collected what was left of her toes from the pavement. Again, not if, but when.