It is from 1 October that two wheeler riders as well as pillion riders will mandatorily have to wear helmets, be it within the city limits or on the highway. It must be said that this is a very good move by the government in order to save precious lives which are lost due to road accidents. But the helmet rule which is to come into force raises some pertinent questions.
But then the first step would have been to prevent such accidents and then make it mandatory to wear helmets. Accidents are caused as a result of bad road-conditions, insufficient number of traffic cops to regulate the flow of the traffic, no proper road signs, stray cattle on the roads, no traffic signals at busy junctions, improper illuminations of the roads, speed-breakers which are not painted, no ‘Zebra Crossings’ etc, etc. Tackling these issues would have brought the number of road accidents within the city limits to such an extent that the need to wear helmet in the cities would not have risen.
As the pillion rider will also have to wear the helmet it raises some questions. If a citizen wishes to hire a motor-cycle taxi from where does he get a helmet? Will it made mandatory for motor-cycle pilots to keep an extra helmet with them? If so he will have to keep not one, not two but three helmets, one for himself, one for a male pillion rider and one for a female pillion-rider. Is it medically advisable for a pillion rider to wear the same helmet that has been used by several people before him/her?
Many a time children are dropped to their schools and brought back home on two wheelers by their parents. It goes without saying that children too should be wearing helmets while they are pillion-riding. The question to be asked is whether helmets of different sizes are available for children as well? Obviously the size of the helmet will have to increase as the child grows. In the city with roads having multiple lanes watching the vehicles moving by the side assumes significance. It is common knowledge that helmets are a hindrance to a free view of vehicles on the side. This could lead to accidents. Helmets are a must while riding on the highway. But within the city proper road conditions will bring down the number of accidents.
