Why don't surfers wear life vests?

I saw something in another thread that reminded me of a question I have always wondered about. Rather than hijack the other thread I thought I would start this one to ask the question.

Surfers, by that I mean surfers in the traditional sense... ocean waves, standard surf boards, no boat, do not wear life vests. At least not any that I have ever seen. They have to deal with riptides, coral reefs, much larger and unpredictable waves and traveling much faster than wakesurfers.

So why do we feel the need to wear life vests and ridicule those don't wear them while wakesurfing?

Our wakesurf waves are tiny by comparision, we're going much slower, and we have a boat with friends on board right there in case something happens. The only thing I can come up with is maybe a law?

I'm not trying to argue that life vests don't save lives. I'm simply wondering if the rationale for wearing life vests while wakeboarding has been accepted blindly for wakesurfing without really assessing the risk involved.