The Goa government has finally decided to make wearing of helmets compulsory on all roads (including interior village roads) for two-wheeler riders (including pillion rider) starting from 1 October 2014. This means that under the garb of saving precious lives, the government of the day is hell-bent on collecting its own share of quota or commission from helmet manufacturers which will lead to suddenly increasing in the sale of helmets and collecting huge revenue targeting the pockets of our ‘aam-Goans’ unleashing the corrupt cops from the traffic cell to play their favourite ‘hide n seek’ dirty games in Goa.
Rather than harassing the “aam-Goans” through such stupid decisions, why don’t our politicians themselves start attending all religious services, official functions, weddings, birthday parties etc on two-wheelers with their wives to get a real feel of a curse called ‘helmet’ and to experience that extra burden of carrying it everywhere in Goa?
The one thing I know about the transport department is that it is one of the most corrupt department whose main agenda is only to collect money through different sources by harassing Goans. It’s a department which does not do any work without taking bribes from the general public. For e.g. from issuing driving licenses to giving permits for taxis/buses, it is not just the clerks or peons but even the concerned officers of the department who are seen compulsorily taking huge bribes from behind the curtains and under the table to get the above things done in Goa. Everyone knows about this whole big racket or cycle but no one seems to be doing anything to stop the same coz finally the whole network is carried out very professionally and sophistically by people from within the department.
If the government of the day is so much serious on saving precious lives (as being claimed through the media) then instead of deciding to extort money from ‘aam-Goans’ by making helmets compulsory for both the riders, it should first of all try to improve the condition of all potholed-roads which are the main cause for most major road accidents, make them free of stray cattle/other animals, seriously teach road discipline for all road-users by taking strict action against those endangering the lives of the general public and who are found habitually over-speeding almost anywhere for no reason. One should not dream of saving precious lives imposing helmets or through some shortcuts. Yes, the Goa Government should first try to catch the bull by the horns rather than the tail, go to address the real problem and then dream of saving people dying in road accidents in Goa.
