Hyderabad: Motorists have variety of excuses for not wearing a helmet

Hyderabad: Motorists come up with a variety of excuses for not wearing a helmet. The city actually has a group that campaigns against wearing helmets, by saying that that most chain snatchers wear helmets to hide their identity.

Electrician U. Pavan, 28, says he does not wear a helmet because it’s only a short ride to work. “It’s just a 4-km commute to my shop in Kanchanbagh, and the chances of the traffic police stopping me for not wearing a helmet are low.  I don’t like a heavy helmet covering my head and face,” he said. Engineering student N. Kishor says he does not want to ruin his hairstyle.

“I want others to see my face when I drive my new bike. What is the fun when you drive to your campus, and other students are looking at your bike and they do not see your face,” he asks, in all seriousness.

Educational consultant P. Kiran Reddy from Panjagutta says, “I feel really suffocated wearing it. When it's hot, the scalp and both sides of the face sweat. After a few minutes, the scalp starts itching and I have to take off the helmet. I  wear a helmet only when I go on a road trip,” he says.

Hyderabad has a small percentage of riders who wear helmets for safety. A large percentage of riders has started wearing it because of the occasional special drives by the traffic police.

Insignificant
A small percentage of riders  wear helmets for safety. Many srtarted wearing one due to police drives.
Some riders do not want to spoil the show while they are on their new bikes by hiding their faces.

Belated drives and half-hearted efforts
Compared to other major cities, Hyderabad has the worst record in helmet rule implementation. The police drive has not prompted even 30 per cent of riders to wear a helmet. Delhi has achieved 90 per cent compliance and Bengaluru 75, Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai also have a higher percentage of riders wearing helmets on roads.

Various reasons contribute to the alarming trend in Hyderabad. The first is that the city traffic police started insisting on helmets only this year, something that most cities had started much earlier.

Another reason is that the education and awareness among riders about safety gear is poor. The special drives by the traffic did not yield the expected result due to various factors. The exercises are infrequent, and there are not enough cops to strictly implement int.

“In Hyderabad, to reduce corruption, we have made it mandatory that only a sub-inspector or higher level officer can pull over a driver. Earlier, there were a lot of incidents, with junior cops extorting money from commuters,” said a senior Traffic police official from Hyderabad.

Dr Pallavi  Sarji Utkarsh, associate professor from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Public health and Centre for Disease Control, Bengaluru, says enforcement of the law faces several hitches from  public, media and from police but a well planned campaign not only sensitises all stakeholders but also helps in  successful enforcement of law.

Dr Pallavi and her team carried out a multi-faceted campaign for six months at Tumakuru district in Karnataka, where helmet usage was just between  1 and 5 per cent.

“Our assessment after the campaign found that helmet use had increased to 80 per cent. We used a ‘Hel-fie challenge’ (like the ‘ice bucket challenge’), social media campaigns with students, a marathon named Helmathone, flash mobs and bike rallies. Youngsters in large numbera came out and supported our efforts,” she said, adding that even Hyderabad could successfully replicate these strategies.