Are young adults putting their lives at risk by trivialising helmet rule?

Sowmya Raju | NT

Bengaluru: A recent conversation with several young adults aged 20-30 about why they do not wear helmets or use half helmets revealed that the most common response is, "I don’t want to carry around a big heavy helmet."

This raises the question, are they willingly inviting danger while riding without wearing a proper protective gear? Youngsters who do wear a helmet while riding, had another common response: They are doing so solely to avoid paying fines to the traffic police.

According to the Bengaluru Traffic Police, 2,25,585 cases were registered in 2022 for helmetless driving in the city. This number is up from 1,95,000 cases in 2021 and 1,75,000 cases in 2020. There are a number of reasons why young adults may choose not to wear a helmet. Some may believe that helmets are uncomfortable or inconvenient.

Others may think that they are not necessary, especially if they are driving a slow-moving scooter. But in Bengaluru, out of fear of paying a fine to the police, several riders purchase a cheap half helmet costing Rs 100 to 150.

These half helmets do not serve the purpose of helmets and many a time senior traffic officials have announced that "a half helmet will be treated as no helmet." Despite this order by the BTP, a large number of citizens still rely on half helmets that are convenient to wear and carry according to them. However, the fact is that helmets can save lives.

According to the World Health Organisation, helmets can reduce the risk of death by up to 40% in motorcycle crashes. They can also reduce the risk of severe head injuries by up to 70%.

In several other cases, most people who wear helmets on a main road, usually do not wear them while riding in gullies because “there is no police surveillance there.”

This all the more proves that they care about paying fines more than protecting their lives. There are also several instances where the rider has the helmet over his/her fuel tank or mirror rod until they spot a traffic cop and wear the helmet then.

In a metropolitan city like Bengaluru, where the middle class constitutes the majority of the population, it is not uncommon to see a family of four travelling on the same two-wheeler. In these instances, it is often witnessed that only the rider wears a helmet, while the children and pillion rider go without protective head gear.

Although smallsized helmets are available for children, many parents do not invest in them, even though they could one day save their lives. Most riders in Bengaluru believe that "the police will not stop and fine them if they are travelling with their families."

The issue of young adults not wearing helmets is a serious one. Helmets can save lives, but many young people still choose not to wear them.

There are a number of reasons for this, including a lack of awareness about the dangers of not wearing a helmet, a belief that helmets are uncomfortable or inconvenient, and a lack of enforcement of helmet laws