Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakku Here legal forces are more or less interested in booking people without helmet/ not wearing seat belt which would harm the drivers/ riders, but not to catch or book the real offenders who will put others life in jeopardy. |
I agree
whole-heartedly on most of the things that you've penned.
But on nothing more do I feel as strongly as your point about cops booking only people without helmets & seat-belts (which are only harming their own lives) and not trying to catch the real offenders who are putting others' lives in jeopardy.
I have been a biker most of my life in a town in Rajasthan called Udaipur. Never until I moved to Mumbai did I start wearing helmets. Understanding the importance of helmets, I purchased a Studds helmet believing that an ISI mark helmet is the one to go for. Within a couple of days, I realized that I feel more afraid to drive my bike because the helmet creates blind spots behind my 180 degree sight (those areas, just around your cheeks which you can't see but can sense a movement). And with the way the autos and other bikers try to cut you even if there's an inch of space you need every extra degree of sight that you can get (and the rear-view mirrors can just not cope with the out-of-the-world manouevres the autos and the bikers make), and with the helmet I felt more paralysed. Thinking that it's maybe because I haven't worn one for most of my life and it's an adjustment problem - I persisted for another couple of months. Finally, I went to Charni Rd and purchased the smallest itsy-bitsy piece of '
katora' that I could lay my hand on (which barely covers my head). The traffic police wallah is happy and I feel more secure. I still have my Studds helmet which I use only for my weekend out-of-the-city drive.
The problem is the cops are trying to apply rules on the issues that are most easily cured (and which frankly affects the driver's own safety): by trying to make ppl wear helmets & seat-belts. But there is no will to right the issues which actually make the roads unsafe. Just yesterday there was a report in TOI that nearly 1.3 lakh people die on Indian roads every year. Most are bikers. Helmets will probably decrease the death statistic for them but why would the biker be in an accident in the first place? Becoz there was some bozo who thought of a sharp manouevre without checking his rear-view mirror. Some truck-wallah who was driving on the wrong side of the road.
I realize it's much simpler said than done, so entrenched is the attitude amongst us (and I sometimes wonder, a truck wallah who would travel 100s of kms daily is driving on the opposite side of the road to save a couple of kms worth of diesel
![EEK!](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.png)
. What sense does it make? It's only because he knows he can do it, is why he does it!!). But there has to be a beginning. The aim is so gigantic, it won't be achieved soon but a beginning has to be made.
On the same note, why not make roads cleaner of grime & dust so that less bikers skid. No, all of that takes efforts. Efforts without any gains for the average traffic cop. What is most beneficial? Stop a helmet-less biker and palm off a 50 Rs.
Why not stop a trck/tempo traveller/ tata 407/ auto for not following rules? becoz they'll endlessly haggle and finally part with only 10 or 20 rupees.
And in any case, what tenability does the helmet/ seatbelt law have when you have autos which have neither?
I rarely dwell on these topics. Wouldn't have if Jakku's post hadn't struck a chord. Because whenever I do, there is only one place I end up at:
"God save us all".
Sorry androdev for hijacking your thread. It has started going completely
![O.T.](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/Off Topic.gif)