Sir, although the decision to wear or not to wear gear is ultimately yours; however your logic is flawed.
Please allow me to elaborate, familiarity and or a lower speed limit does not reduce the risk of an accident.
"The NHTSA reports that approximately 52 percent of all accidents occur within a five-mile radius of home and 69 percent of all car accidents occur within a ten-mile radius from home..." (Source: http://tinyurl.com/3of57n9)
Statistically you are more likely to have a collision "running to the corner store" than if you were outside a 10 mile (16KM) radius.
I read that statistics 12 years ago, so we moved.