Extra helmet a necessity or inconvenience?
Keralites have different opinions on the recent HC order
By : elizabeth thomas
Update: 2015-10-24 06:59 GMT
‘Should the pillion rider wear a helmet?’ is a question that has been engaging two-wheeler riders these days. The rule, which is mandatory in cities like Bengaluru, is relatively a new idea for Keralites. Recently, in an interim order, the Kerala High Court made helmet mandatory for pillion riders. At this juncture, we pose the question about the feasibility of this directive to a few who use this vehicle daily to reach places and sometimes offer a lift to their peers or relatives during emergency situations.
“I would say helmet should be made mandatory for pillion riders. It can ensure safety,” says Ashitha Wilson, final year BA Sociology student at St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam. “I am saying this because recently my cousin, who was riding pillion, met with an accident and was injured seriously. He remained unconscious for a few days. If he was wearing a helmet, his situation wouldn’t have been this bad. The person who actually rode the bike had suffered a milder injury,” she adds.
Tanya, an entrepreneur, who had witnessed an accident in Bengaluru, too concurs with Ashitha. “After seeing that, I always believed that those who ride pillion should wear helmet,” she says. However, actor Sijoy Varghese disagrees. He firmly believes that it is impossible. “Wearing a helmet is a personal choice. If the two persons are starting from same place, both wearing helmet would be possible. But, suppose you are going to office, on the way you meet one of your friends who wants to go somewhere, how can you say no to him? Or if it is an old woman who comes along with you, how can you insist that she should wear a helmet? If it is a kid, should we get a small helmet?” he asks, adding that it is difficult to maintain two helmets.
In his opinion, there are many other things to be taken care of. “Before making helmets mandatory, the government should take necessary measures to improve the condition of our roads. Police should make sure that vehicles plying on the road are in good condition. If so, accident rate will be reduced. Also, instead of waiting for accidents to happen or riders to commit crime, police should be vigilant to stop him from doing this. For instance, they can stop a drunkard from riding the vehicle,” he adds.
Andrea Thomas, Ashitha’s friend who comes to college in two-wheeler occasionally from her home in Kaloor, says it is not a big deal to keep an extra helmet in the scooter. She believes our main concern should be safety. “But we must excuse emergency situations. Suppose you forget to take the backup helmet and your friend urgently needs your help, allowing that person to mount on the rear seat without helmet is not wrong. Even if I get fined for that, I am ready to pay it,” she says.
It is a fact that there are practical difficulties in implementing this. But Adarsh Kumar, joint RTO of Muvattupuzha, says that we should change our attitude towards this directive. “I understand the difficulties. But safety of our lives should be above them. We insist helmet to the pillion rider because he or she is the vulnerable rider. The main rider at least has a support on the handle. Those who sit on the back have less grip and support. They are more prone to accident and injury. If you check the statistics, you could see that in most cases, the most affected were pillion riders,” he says explaining that wearing helmet is scientifically correct.
“When an accident occurs, if the vehicle is coming in 50 km/hr rate, the effect of falling from bike is equivalent to falling from a three-storeyed building. Our head is in spherical shape. So when one falls, the shock will be centred to a single point on head, which is dangerous. If you wear helmet, the shock will be divided and the EPS layer in the helmet will absorb the shock thus preventing it from impacting directly on head. But, it all depends upon the speed,” he says.