wilco

"arey bhai mamu a gaya jaldi helmet dey!!" isn't this a sight that i can assume all of us are accustomed to ??.. we might have been guilty of doing the same at some point of our biking life..

But the point of this post is not to spread yet another drive safe- wear safety gear campaign.... its a thought that had been niggling me for a long time but thanks to this forum i get a shout box and here i am with my post.
As always i fear i might not be able to put my point across with eloquence but lets just start with it, enough of the prelude!!
yesterday i heard about some acquaintance of my father who got involved in a freak accident sum how managed to survive only too be left as a widower for the rest of his life. i live in lucknow the land of kebabs and legendary lawless traffic where just about everyone is trying to overtake everyone from every direction with no functional traffic lights in the entire city barring hazratganj.
so on that unfortunate day the man nd his wife were returning from a private ceremony with the woman ol decked up on their priya scooter.. cautious as he is, uncle wore a helmet but just like it is always the female did not.. a dumper a cement mixing kind of thing was speeding across from their left and suddenly in a very bizzare manner the dumper sumhow clipped the wife's saree it got entangled in the machine nd she was dragged face down on the road for a good 200 -300 metres... imbalanced scooter made the guy also fall only too be saved by his helmet but seeing his wife die in front of his eyes as she succumbed to her injuries withing minutes only to leave a bone chilling narration for people like us ..
a professional biking community that we are we have upped the safety standards across the young un's and oldies alike but how often do we see aunties wearing a helmet??,a girl whizzing across on her scootey pep with her beautiful long hair making dozens oogle...women just wont wear it some are embarrassed to wear it some think their 5000 rs hair job would get spoiled some just enjoy the male attention sans the helmet
this is the third accident involving a female fatality that ive come across in my life only to wonder when will these improper perceptions change and when will the fairer sex realize accidents don't discriminate on basis of gender and their life is more important than their new hairstyle.. we as Indians lose millions to road mishaps every year ...police chek points keep a tab on guys without helmets only to leave them with 100 rs generosity gesture..
but what about the girls on their scootey's, thousands of women riding as pillion with no safety sometimes carrying handbags children etc with the husband gracing his cranium with an "isi branded mehnga helmet"
many might disagree with facts and figures varying from city to city but sumhow the experince in my homeland has been bitter and even in Delhi where even the pillion has to have a helmet [albeit a shoddy laborer helmet] ive never ever come across a female as a pillion with helmet. the thought process , the awareness the concern for their safety just doesn't exist.
i just take this opportunity to ask my fellow xbhpians as to how can we bring about this pertinent change and alter the perceptions of indian females thus making their lives safer and not a ticking time bomb everytime they travel on the bikes/scooters with their brothers/sons/husbands.

p.s i hope my post doesnt come across as chauvinistic and i accept all the criticism ... all i want is everyone to be safe on their vehicles including females..
im just wondering how do i ask my mother to wear a helmet next time she sits as a pillion

wilco
keep the blue side up!

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The similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot fuks it up, the pilot dies.
If ATC fuks it up, the pilot dies. :D

Sunny

Topic Approved

@Wilco: Next time you post please apply the concept of a paragraph, punctuation and capitalization. It was hard to go through what you wrote.

I did not merge this with any other topic because it touches a different aspect of safety in the Indian society and roads.

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animeher

Girls take safetly quite lightly, I guess. My lady friends and my wife all wear helmet compulsarily But yes, this is a serious issue, but sadly its usually too late to make them understand the necessity of helmet. Just today I saw 2 girls skid and fall from Dio, both wearing college fancy stuff but their fashion didn't permit them for a helmet. Thankfully they didn't fell on face.

kirosh_03

A good thread. I too have read about a lot of accidents where the pillion riders (female, in particular) lose their lives. IMO, as far as female pillion riders are concerned, some have a misconception, a wrong mindset that they would look odd if they wore a helmet. And some don't feel comfortable wearing a helmet.

True! Delhi and Chandigarh are the country's best cities where traffic rules are well-implemented and strictly followed. However, even in such cities it looks pathetic to see women being exempted from wearing helmets. The real safety concern doesn't exist at all. The authorities must make wearing helmets compulsory for both riders, irrespective of the genders.

Accidents can happen to anyone, anytime.

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All men dream, but not equally. Those that dream at night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act upon their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. - T. E. Lawrence

Kriss, ELD, and Wonderboy, you guys will always be remembered.

wilco

@sunny
Whoops!... ill make sure my post is legible with all the necessary punctuation from next time &
Thank you for approving the thread.

__________________
The similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot fuks it up, the pilot dies.
If ATC fuks it up, the pilot dies. :D

dreamchaser

my wife is a regular pilion rider with me on rides on our R1...she wears and even i insist she wears everytime her helmet(a vega flip type so she can still have the wind on her face and save her face as well!) on short rides just maybe goin out in the night to CCD or like that and in long rides she takes sooo much pride in wearing her Joe Rockets jacket that its like she wearing a diamond necklace!!!and i am proud of her too in this case...even she has great hair and good looks that people oogle but even when she goes out alone on the dio she makes sure she wears a helmet..flip up o down...
the reason why i tell her is..in case something happens or she falls down or i fall down...i DONT want people to say "oh he was a nice guy...always used to wear the helmet...but we dont know why he didnt wear it today" even if i escape with bruises i still dont want to think like the above myself "ohhhhh god why didnt i wear today"....maybe i am little more responsible being who valus life...and i wish everyone was......

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wilco

Thumbs up for you pal...
You sure are a responsible being and as a fellow xbhpian i take immense pride in learning that ladies like your wife exist with a level head on their shoulders.
Since ive been worried about my mother's safety off late on her pillion rides i was just wondering if there are helmets tailor made for women which looks a bit feminine and caters to their need without making them look like an "alien in a saree"

__________________
The similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot fuks it up, the pilot dies.
If ATC fuks it up, the pilot dies. :D

moeed

This is a serious topic. I've seen girls ride without helmets and the cops don't even fine them. It's high time they realize the importance of a helmet.

svjhonda

My sister wears one because I force her to, and once I asked her which is one helmet she'd wear gladly, she pointed one out in a Bike mag, made by Dianese, looked chic, and was priced 48k (not sure...)

While we have a different approach, they have a very cosmetic approach. The helmet first & foremost has to be good looking, compact and appealing, safety comes next... Manufacturers can tap this segment with specific helmets made for womenfolk, because now, there are hardly any...

Sarvajit

There are a few lady helmets, but IMO they cannot be made to look grossly different from the current helmets we have, since that would make it lose out on the function-safety.
Form factor is important, but the purpose must not be lost.

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