By email [ Monday, July 31, 2006  ]

Sir

In the reign of many political parties, the rule for wearing the helmets by the rider was made mandatory. This government has brought a slight addendum to it by making it obligatory for the pillions as well. Nevertheless, these rules, when stated by any governments, will have lots of objection from the public. There is always a divided opinion in this matter.

As a human being, everyone has the privilege to express their views. But are we really prudent when we put forward anything regarding this? This is surely a topic to debate and like many others, this would also be an inconclusive one.

Taking a leaf out of the past, life on the bikes was much safer with  lesser traffic on the roads. But now, it is very evident that improvement in the infrastructure is not commensurate with the advancements in technology and growth in population. If one takes a look at the bike industries in India, there is a growing trend towards launching bikes powered by the engines that take you off on the blink of the eye. Life on the wheels is at stake with powerful engines in the bikes and with more traffic. To crown it, people drive to their instincts heedless of the sign boards on the roads.

In this era, our safety on the roads is in other's hands as in contrast to the past years, where every single being used to abide the traffic rules. The death toll due to accidents is also increasing year after year irrespective of the various awareness programs, promos and safety rules introduced by the government. So isn’t it pragmatic to don the helmets when we are traveling on the bikes? The question to ponder would be the necessity of the same for the pillions as well. Given a choice, its obvious nobody would want to take decision that will endanger their lives.

- Rajesh Balasubramonium