L.P.

I may not a Matured Person / Rider in the eyes of many people, i know the fact,it is not the fact that i dont want to understad things, it is just that at my age it is just very diificult to understand the things that people try to make us understand..

I still remember the time I became a part of xBhp,many people guided me in the right direction as I used to ride like a maniac on roads.
Respected Mods, (Aryan and MG) had told me many times to ride in a better manner, all it took was a Close Sneak out that I had,to understand and to land in a Major Situation, it was that day and today's day Many Things have changed.

C_Sbk has been like an elder brother who guided me at each step where i went wrong, and My Sincere thanks to Born2Lead as well who made me realise what the need of a Riding gear is.
it is not only we who are living our own life for our enjoyment,there are many people who all are related to us some or the other way,
Parents of a person are the one who suffer an irrevertible Loss if FATE plays with the thier child's life, it is they.
Wearing a Riding Gear can save us from meeting a big disaster,or atleast minimises the after effects of an accident.

Everytime something or the other happens on a road, there is a sadness that creeps into me thinking about what happend to my beloved freind Hitesh Bhagel.
A person only gets a life once! Love it and Live it!

__________________

Spiti ||Binsar || Lansdowne

Click Here to Subscribe to the xBhp Delhi SMS Channel

2006-till Date : Bajaj Discover 125cc 1,60,000 kms
..... now Hero Honda Karizma

ankitshringi

This article says exactly what was in my mind two years ago when the Traffic police decided to make Helmet compulsory for all two wheeler riders. But to the shock of all the concerned authorities, Barodians took to the streets protesting against the rule. Some even went to the extent of giving Dharnas in front of the High-court!!
The reasons ranged from the difficulty people face while carrying the helmet to utter BS like head getting heated up inside the helmet (the latter was from a Doctor-to-be in my neighbourhood).Eventually i am one of the very few people who is seen with a helmet on in Baroda.
Also i would like to add that people should atleast buy an ISI approved helmet and not just a Rs. 50 helmet to avoid penalties.
I think i'll send a link of this thread to some Traffic authority if they are ready to listen!!

__________________

niranjanvaidya

Wearing safety gear is not an etiquette/luxury/poser charm its a habit; and like all habits that start young, they seldom die. Most of the times, we have grown up hearing tales about biking from family and friends that have shaped many of us. Statements like Helmets make you bald, Helmets can make you deaf, never use the front brake else you will fall, always raise the throttle when you start the bike so that it gets hot and so on...
Today with more and more exposure to biking as lifestyle and leisure sport, we are more aware of safety than our earlier generations. Thankfully, my family promoted safe biking from the time that I had a two wheeler in my hand. I used to ride to my college on a Bajaj Sunny with Studds RB2 Helmet, Nike thick Jacket and Leather gloves. People used to laugh at this but who cares...after all, its my call.
Printing a booklet may not be the ultimate solution. I feel that the change has to happen within us and we have to propogate it as much as we can. If each xBhpian convinces atleast two to five other bike riders to wear helmets(at least), it would be a remarkable achievement. Like all projects, this one must have a specific goal and a completion period.
@Sunny: Why not have a drive where xBhpians convince their near and dear ones, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, etc to wear safety gear; at least a helmet. Each convinced member can then spread it around later in the same way thus forming a web. Workshops can be held by experienced xBhpians in each city to demonstrate the benefits of having safety gear.

I am sure that if this generation is an educated one, they shall definitely promote better safety and riding etiquettes in the future generation.

__________________
Never argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience.

bhargava_sr

To add to the points, I have seen many of them not locking the helmet which is again very dangerous and results in Helmet to fly away during a fall.

Please lockup helmets wearing on head and not on bikes handle or helmet lock while riding

HydBiker

I have seen a handsome variety of falls and falls that kill people on the spot or prety soon after. And about 70-80% of them were on scooters or 100cc & below bikes. Also, most Pulsar accidents (break locking up when trying to maneaver through traffic & particularly busses) I've heard of could have saved lives if they had a helmet on. When it caused death it was mostly a head injury. Recollecting a few incidents here -

One my distant relative skid and fell from a scooter at speeds like 30 kmph. He had a helmet on - a Studds. But the strap was not fastened. Died on the spot.

One guys on TVS 50 moped (now how fast does that go?) had to break suddenly, lost control, vehicle went into another direction, hit another stationary vehicle, heads on, gone.

My uncle and some 20 years ago was riding his scooter with a half face helmet on and suddenly a road side parked DCM door flung open. Bang - severe damage to scooter, he had some injuries and he said only the helmet saved him - the impact was hard.

Very recently, a Passion plus couldn't control a turn on NH9, went straight into a pit on right side of the road. I guess he was doing about 80KMPH... else that turn wasn't a bug deal though. Injured but that guy had his helmet on. He was not able to move but reached for his phone and was asking a person to call ambulance.

Our own xBhpian, accelerating at about 85-90 KMPH on AP SH1, a cow decides to jump onto the road. Bang... drag... bike totalled. He was dragged for over 10 meters on the road on his chest. He was walking back and calling us instead of lying in the hospital for about 6 months. What saved him that day was a GPR Helmet, GPR Gloves and DSG Nero Jacket. Anything less, we'd have rushed in for an ambulance first.

There are so many more... I can write just such anecdotes for at least 10 pages... but the bottom line is "Ride Safe & Wear Gear".

Some are morons and some are plain idiots. My Uncle at abt 50 yrs age rides a Crux & wants a helmet and not able to find one that fits his head. He realized the importance of it at this age and due to my & his son's pestering. I gave my Studds Bravo to him as that fit him. My cousin at abt 22 yrs age who rides a P150 questions me why he needs a helmet? Wanted to blast him there but that was in a marriage function. But the Uncle's son gave an apt. reply - "we want out father to return home safe".

__________________
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Alumni?
PM me for an Invitation to myJNV - the navodayan connect!

suhail_kapoor

There are two major problem which come to my mind when it comes to driving safely:

1. Ease of driving a vehicle in INDIA.
2. Transition Phase or Affordability of Safety products.

How many times do we see under age drivers on roads and the more common, people who do not know how to drive well ( read not perfect but well). But do we change NO, because a son/daughter driving at early age is a sign of STATUS & PRIDE for all of us. We then boast of his abilities and pump his ego, instead of questioning his Maturity and Understanding towards the importance of SAFE and SANE riding and the value of LIFE. We enjoy making mockery of law, because we know its easy to get away, if you have the sources or the $$$'s.

Now, most of the riders ride because they are in the transition phase between a bi-cycle and a motorcar, all they find in between is public transport or Scooter/ Motor-bikes and since public transport is downright BAD in most cities of India, we choose the Scooter / Motorbike of our choice. Without understanding that both of these vehicles demand skills and put you at risk. Unlike a car there is no safety shell around you and if you make a wrong judgement or fall in the line of somebody's incorrect judgement, you will need even higher skills to evade or will have to kiss the tarmac and we all have seen the later to be true in most cases.

Transition phase also brings the ignorance factor or short term factor and hence people do not want to invest too much money on stuff which in my opinion is ESSENTIAL for survival on these vehicles besides your skill. Some of us may have been plain lucky to have survived so far in our riding careers but I would request all to PLEASE AT LEAST WEAR A HELMET and develop a SANE sense towards riding.

Also, please respect the GIFT OF LIFE and understand that RIDING is only A PART OF LIFE.

signing off -

__________________
"Be who you are, and be that well"

prashanth lobo

Riding gear is a must and we all understand that... But many a times it is the cost of riding gear that deters a person from getting one.... Same is for me... I managed to buy myself a good helmet with the money i saved... But riding gear is just out of my reach... It is not very easy to convince parents who know nothing of these life saving gears... And when you tell them the price attached with these gloves and jackets, it is surely going to be a complete no no from them... They would rather tell you to "Ride Safe".... One cannot blame his or her parents for the same because they would have never heard of such riding gear or wouldn't have any knowledge about the same... But as Sunny Sir mentioned it would be good if some of us take a print out of this thread and show it to our parents...
One more thing that crossed my mind when i was reading through the thread was the amount of rash and mostly under skilled riders and drivers that we find on our roads.... I would say the problem partly lies in the inadequate testing that is done before one gets a license... Atleast as far as i have noticed in the Bangalore RTO the most they make a person do is ride around a locality or just do an eight on the road... I would say most kids who have some skill in riding a cycle can ride a scooter around a locality with just a day of practice... I think that gives a fair idea as to why we have so many bad drivers and riders on our roads with licenses... Education is also a necessity as many people both pedestrians and users of vehicles do not know the rules of the road or decide not to follow them...

shivank

I think in India there are many flaws in traffic rules and regulations.And then there's a crowd of these numbskulls who reject to wear lids,riding gears etc.Now,we are left with one and the only solution to the problem i.e FORCE the law upon these idiots..I really don't know who the hell made this rule to collect money and leave the culprit.We know there are a heck of a lot of rich guys around who just don't think twice before paying challans of over 1000 bucks.What our law makers should do is whenever they find a guy without helmet,take 600-700 bucks from him and get him an ISI marked helmet.I am not sure whether this'll work or not but there would be a point of time when these idiots will be irritated with the number of helmets at their place.They break the rule,get them a helmet.They do it once more,get them one more!!..and i am sure next time they won't do that again!!...Now,they are left with only two choices,either to wear those or start selling the gifted lids!!..

And about Riding gears like gloves and jackets.I don't think affordability is as big a problem as availability.Except for metros and a few big cities we hardly have any shop or store which deals with such products.You must have seen people querying about PlanetDSG stores in their town.I think manufacturers should make it available at company showrooms (like in case of yamaha).
As a student i've my collected money for riding gears but i don't have VISA or any other sort of card by which i can pay these through net and get it delivered.As a result the money gets wasted in Pizza Hut,Domimo's or McD's.Like someone said,"Paisa haath ka mael hai".

__________________
If you ride like there's no tomorrow...worry not there won't be!

Shivanshu

Well out here in India, there is only one problem we have and that is that nobody is ready to take there own responsibility nor ownership. Yes out here in India Biking for common people is just another way of commuting without even considering the safety features. They would take a family of 4 to 5 (including kids) on bike, which is actually meant just for 2people. And well riding jackets, gloves, helmets come a way afterwards and it is for people who knows about it. I have seen people riding bikes, scooters which are not even roadworthy in any sense. Same is the case of many normal people who wont be aware that there is something called riding jackets for bikes.
As per my personal opinion the first thing we need to do is to educate people about what biking is. We all who rides one knows how vulnerable we are to the falls and injuries out here on Indian Roads. And yes since we know about bikes and we are not ignorant towards our safety hence we ride properly or take calculated risks. The law, police, rules and all out here are gullible and hence cant be put into serious and strict implementation. Because we dont want to get into hassle. Well I am sure the bribery system would have started by someone asking for money and someone paying to him. Its like you cannot clap with one hand. And hence, these things would take a long time before the word "bribery" gets vanished from our dictionary.
As per us bikers out here we need to remember onething that on Indian roads may be you would be folllowing all set of rules while riding but the other may not. One should be aware of all possible way a person riding or driving in front can react to any situation. And yes safety gears like gloves, jackets, helmet, knee guards all help a lot to minimize the injury to your body. But wearing all these doesnt mean that you would be totally secure. As there are many times when you actually get hit or fall due to other persons mistake.
SO yes we have to be responsible of our own acts and act maturely, the person who can afford good safety gears well and good who cant afford just ride responsibly and enjoy the ride . Accidents can happen even when sitting on the bike enjoying a sip of tea, but then we are a bunch of brothers who are optimistic with mature minds. So enjoy your ride and always ride safe

__________________

Save the Earth - We are the one who are running out of time, as Earth will take it own time to heal but that time may not be enough for us.

http://www.ridesafewith.me
I dont just ride my bikes, I live with them.
Yamaha RX100 (1987)
Yamaha YZF R15 (2010)

niranjanvaidya

quite thought provoking...in fact all manufacturers should be compulsorily providing a helmet with every bike that they sell. Just like the saree guard was made mandatory, a helmet should be made compulsory with every bike that every manufacturer sells. the cost of which can be recovered from the customer in the bike's cost. Maybe, the manufacturer can offer an option to choose from various brands and colors.

__________________
Never argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience.