The Hindu reports that Wearing of helmets has been made compulsory in Chennai, again. How many times do we have to toggle this law on and off? Any sane person knows that helmets enhance the rider's safety. Lets hope the law stays.
Unfortunately, in Madras helmets get very uncomfortable thanks to the heat and humidity. The solution is not to repeal the law, but enhance the design of helmets. They need to be lighter and vented. Maybe even open face, or half helmets are good. They are better than no helmets at all. Anyway, I am sure the helmet shops and makers are salivating at the new sales ops. I hope someone steps in with a better design during this cycle of the helmet law.
While I am sure that the helmets will reduce injuries related to two wheeler accidents, I am sure that riders / passengers without helmets on the roads will still be a common sight. After all, it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle in the dark without lights, but even that law is not enforced in Chennai anymore. In days past, driving without lights would be the fastest way to lose Rs. 50 from your pocket (as a bribe to the first policeman you see) but these days, maybe the policemen are after more lucrative violations or maybe it is all too cheap for people to pay these fines. I was shocked to see a large number of vehicles without lights on my last few visits to Chennai.
Oh well!
No comments:
Post a Comment