Its been a very long time since i put my thoughts in writing.I think the main reason being laziness as well as blocking of Blogger.com @ work since thats where i get to have lots of "Free" time !
There were numerous things i want to write about but at present while coming to this place where i get access internet for free( My library), i saw a huge police force at work catching the "miscreants" without helmet on their heads and i found it immensenly funny cause i have never witnessed such an active traffic police at mount road in the past few years i am at this place.
I think atleast all people in TN will be aware of the new rule of "must wear helmets" else pay a fine of Rs.100 .I am not against safety but there are limits to a rule.At busy times atleast on mount road , one gets barely to move a feet in one minute and the needle of the speedometer even crossing a maximum of 40 is very difficult, with this being the case i am not able to understand the necessasity of this " life saver" given the fact that most of the traffic patrol on the road are now side tracking the two wheelers with a pillion passenger without an helmet while there are abundant reckless auto ricksaws without silencers increasing the level both noise as well as toxic compounds having a free ride on a busy road.
Most of the times the lane discipline is not followed and whenever there are no "lanes" the possibility of finding a " road" is tough and even in places near the IT highway, the roads are very uneven and just a few sprinkling of water is enough to flood the roads.
With all these unaddressed i am not able to get the "safety" aspect of a helmet, after all it just protects the head and the possibility of protection under severe impact is questionable given the fact the helmet doesnt come with the pressure rating and its not made of diamond or titanium.
Infact it is bound to happen like all traditions, followership without the original reason or fine without common sense.Since riding at 30kmph and in a high traffic density area , the possibility of lung congenstion is more severe than a head injury.
But its field day for the traffic police, reasons being:
- Rule with no cost on part of the department
- People who argue that after all they employ people to implement the same, it has to be remembered that no extra person is employed for the same.
- By employing the same force to catch normal people without helmet, other important rules can be easily disregarded and might go unnoticed
- Marginal revenue increases!
And its a field day for chain snatchers and smugglers as far as people do not remember seeing anything apart from the helmet colour!
I personally feel, each person's safety should be their own concern and their families concern and in the name of "giving safety" to people, unnecessary wastage of police force time and effort should not be incurred.
Probably ,a rule like "you need to wear a helmet and in case of a head injury , you are not liable for an insurance if you had not been wearing a helmet" might be better but ofcourse in that case, if a person was wearing a helmet and met with a head injury in that case , the state should take up medical care on spot for the person without the long winding legal procedures which might cause delay in his treatment.
Probably a survey of number of accidents before and after the rule in a particular time period should be done and in case of no difference , the rule should be reverted and more better ways of providing safety thought of!
Comments
1: Head inguries are very dangerous, because we cannot diagonise properly.So even if we trip and fall, the chances of complexity is more if we have a head ingury.So its always advisable to wear a helmet when we drive bikes.
2: I accept that wearing the helmet is a personal choice and it should nto be forced. We have the right to live and the right to choose the way we live as well. If someone wants to die through an accident, let him... cos he made the choice.
anyways.. thnks for the read.. expect more from you.
Guess, now that the sales-targets of the Marketing dept of the helmet companies is achieved, it doesn't matter anyway! :)
Nice to see you could empathize with the bike-riders, as I don't believe you drive one yourself.
Overall a good analysis, on "increase in marginal revenue" for the Police dept!! :))
As usual I agree and disagree. I agree with the fact that each biker can choose his safety levels. But how much right does he have to block traffic inviting emergency care delaying million others? Yes, while I want to sympathize with the victim, I don't want to be delayed.. Sounds very rude, I know.
Al though you seldom need these rules on the Mt Road, you certainly need them on almost all roads that branch from here, wide and inviting a rally like the Sardar Patel Road or the new Six lane highway. If turtle-paced drivers like me tend to clock 80 on these roads, spped devils might as well beware.
And last, it is always "a stitch" that saves nine, and not the nine stitches later on. I think the government should have remained stricter on this. At least long enough to collect acceptable statistics.