Hyderabad: On Tuesday last week, software engineer G. Hari Krishna and his close friend K. Ramesh were heading to their hostel from Kothapet on their bike when a truck rammed their vehicle at Moosapet crossroads.
Ramesh, who was wearing a helmet, escaped with a few bruises. Hari Krishna, the pillion rider, had a bleeding injury on his head and died before the ambulance arrived. As his body was being shifted to the morgue, Ramesh walked to the railway tracks nearby, jumped in front of a running train and ended his life.
"Hari Krishna was pillion rider, so he did not wear a helmet. If he had worn one, the youngsters would not have lost their lives in such a tragic manner," said investigation officer sub-inspector G. Gopinath.
Hyderabad and Cyberabad police have not enforced the helmet rule for pillion riders, which is implemented in Kerala, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Hyderabad police officials say that they cannot enforce the law because they are on a step-by-step process to get riders to wear the helmet.
"We aim to initially focus on the drivers first and later target pillion riders. It's necessary to stabilise the enforcement process by taking gradual steps," said Hyderabad traffic DCP A.V. Ranganath, adding that probably by next year, the police might start special drives that will cover pillion riders too.
Ms Geetam Tiwari, Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme chair professor at IIT Delhi, said that when police pull over bikers as part of their enforcement drive, they should challan the pillion rider as well.
"It's not possible that the pillion rider without helmet can escape when there is a road crash. Protective gear should be compulsory for both riders in order to avoid fatal injuries and death," she said.
Lucky survivor or sincere law abider: Tale of a rider
Freelance document consultant M. Vasu, 48, leads a happy life with his wife and two daughters in Vijayawada. But in the last 10 years he has been involved in major road crashes while riding his bike, and escaped with injuries because he was wearing a helmet.
He survived a mishap on MG Road in Vijayawada when a car swerved and brushed against his bike, and he fell and hit his head on the road divider. In 2011, an autorickshaw rammed his bike on Koti Road in Hyderabad at a traffic signal. “At that time, too, my head hit the ground, but the helmet saved me life,” he said.
He says each time, his head hit the ground so hard that he would have died if it was not for his helmet. Mr Vinay Kumar, founder of the Indian Federation of Road Safety, said his father, a retired railway employee, had survived a road crash because of his helmet.
Mr Naveen Kumar, a software engineer, had a major crash a week after his marriage. Three years ago, a truck hit and dragged his bike for a few metres, while Mr Kumar fell and hit his head on the road. Naveen, who owes his life to his helmet, lives with his wife and daughter.
