Even if the government implements laws which mandate purchasing an ISI marked helmet with two wheelers, it still is not effective because people are not going to strap them on. A $600 helmet which is not strapped on properly is as good as wearing a baseball cap. So like many other things, the people should get the concept of safety first. It is just how people have been brought up - no emphasis at all on personal or public safety. Unless the sense of safety becomes a part of one's self and voluntary, it is absolutely futile enforcing laws.

And the worst thing is people do not learn even after they have had an accident and serious injuries - they will always blame the slippery roads, the sudden pothole, the stray cow, the errant auntie on a scooter or a rogue buswala. They will never accept the fact that they were not wearing proper riding gear, were over speeding on city roads and did not keep safe distance from the vehicle in front of them etc. And then after all the cussing, they will go back to wearing strapless Rs.400 helmets and sandals.

I don't want to be a pessimist, but I doubt that the 'Chalta Hai' attitude is ever going away from the minds of the average Indian, short of a brainwash.

^^ it wont go.. till we dont accept our own riding mistakes and stop blaming everything else.

Just about 30 mins ago I was returning home (in a car). There was a traffic jam in a generally clear road. It didn't take me much time to realize that there's a bike accident involved. A Passion Plus. Mostly a marketing exec. or May be two. It was crowded and I didn't stop but assessed that there was no helmet involved. So didn't even bother to stop.

Now, while this was in progress, another Zen went in wrong lane (where the whole group of people were blocking the road and that is visible from 300-400 meters ahead), he wanted to cut into my lane when my car's rear wheels were ahead of his front wheels. I had to stop my car as some people were helping the guys to beside the road but this zen wala wanted to squeeze in. He hit his bumper to my side door & started shouting that I am not moving my car.

I gave him a very serious look. Then two people started shouting. I yelled back - "you are trying to turn when there's no space, hit my car and yelling at me. what are you thinking? will you move back or shall I get down and make some tamasha?" - that's it, they shut their mouths and reversed their car a bit. Had there been some damage to the car he'd have seen a great tamasha there. Not because of damage to the car but because of his arrogance.

Well, meanwhile a little mob came to me and asked what happened. I asked them to see who hit whom. then the moved to the Zen to scold that guy. well, I don't like this mob either.

Why am I telling all this in this thread?

1) guys ride without helmet. to my knowledge the biker would have hit a pedestrian. Both would have a mistake on their part. Even then, if the biker would have had a helmet, I would have stopped beside the road and would have gone for help.
2) Knowing that there is a mob on the road and all the cars and other vehicles in front of him switched lanes well in advance the Zen wala came in and wanted to squeeze into no where. Many people try to do it. Not sure what they think. According to him I should give him space by moving ahead by hitting the people carrying the injured to the road side!!!

That is attitude. See, the pedestrians, two wheelers, 4 wheelers, and big time - the Bus drivers, everybody has to change to the positive.

Well I don't see the problem the way most of you guys see it. Let me elaborate

1] Being educated or not has nothing to do with wearing safety gear. As far as I know even in developed western countries it is common to see a motorcycle rider to wear helmet and other safety, but not wearing one is also not uncommon! When asked why they dont do so they dont reply, "because I think that helmets dont work" or " It's bothersome" or "I have never heard of them", it is just that they just simply prefer not to! Same can be said about those educated-well-paid-helmet-nay-sayer of INDIA. Wearing a helmet or not has much to do with various factors like age, previous fall or injury due to crash, SES, etc. A well known example is the Teutul family. Its not that Sr. has no knowledge of how important helmets are or that Jr. doesn't have enough money to buy one, but they just prefer to ride without it.

2] I think buying a unregulated lid is still better then being blunt and just saying helmets are pointless! Let me make it clear that I dont mean unregulated lids are ok, I just say it is better then nothing! I know these people just buy them to save themselves from traffic tickets but in my humble opinion if some one was self motivated to buy a cheap helmet to save him/herself from fine, then if some one were to give them enough impetus and education then they might understand the point in buying a good helmet. In short I feel that these people have glimmer of hope and we must not give up on them!

3] Even I think government should do better, but not in just enforcing the rule! What about spreading the message of safety on road as it is the number 1 killer for age group 15-45 years? While Terrorism, HIV, TB and Suicide get grater coverage, traffic accident continue pilling nasty figures! (Not that Terrorism, HIV, TB and Suicide are unimportant! No-no! I dont mean that!) I think government should have launched heavy ad campaign about benefits of helmet in the year prior to implementing mandatory helmet rule. Also we as good bikers have a responsibility to spread the word about use of protective gear among our fellow biker brethren, and I think we need to up our game for that! Why wait for government to bring about change when we can have that glory to ourselves!

So come on XBHP! We can do better!

Actually much bigger problem is Friends making joke of a person who is wearing a helmet..

except one friend of mine no one bothers to wear a helmet.. no they think agar bike helmet pehen ke chalaayegen ton pata kaise chalega ki hum chala rahe hai... and how will chicks look at us?

Helmets are a must...

he he, tell them "apna photo helmet pe chipka ke chalo dost... kudiyan pehchann lenge "

These road side vendors should really be banned only those who dont know there value of brain buy cheap helmets nothing is going to change first of all we should revamp our whole system we are still following what the british has left behind us people should change their mindset about quality and quantity and should realise that quality comes at a price

"It is about how much you value your life"

This is the phrase that made me think... A few years ago I was discussing about cars, fast cars, accidents, safety and cost at which that comes, with a few British men. Then came the topic of the Ferrari that has supposedly crashed at 270 MPH and the driver walked out of the car (or its remains). One of them in the group seems knew that guy indirectly and he quoted the above phrase.

The bottom line is - you will spend on your safety as much as you value your own life. And when one is aware of his own life's value he is automatically aware of other's life value. That makes him put an effort not only into instruments of safety but also into the mindset. And, it is not easy at all to embed that sense into our minds.

It is not just about low quality helmets. See how people ride/drive. A good bunch of people here too ride crazy and cut in front of other vehicles. This is not just unsafe for them but for a whole lot of others on the road too. So, if we wear good helmets, then what? can we ride like like crazy?

Came back after a ~700kms trip,
Pur-Patna-Pur

In Patna i rarely saw anyone wearing an ISI helmet and those who were wearing didn't strap it

i just can't understand why people dont care to follow the simple driving rules.. and why these cheap helmet mfrs. are still able to stand in market..

I hope 1 day, people start caring for their lives.
I feel somewhere in my mind, that people either avoid wearing helmets coz they feel that helmets makes them look dumb a$$ or they are too confident about their driving skills..

Lets start a campaign against these cheap killing helmet mfrs..

@Sunny: If we can do any campaign regarding Riding Gears in Mumbai do update or start a new thread. in mumbai people wear helmet just to get saved from being fine from RTO officers. Someone should create a proper awareness about these gears.

You are absolutely right. The bottom line is that (I am going out on a limb out here; this will create a lot of controversy) the average motorcycle rider in our country is not mature nor is considerate towards other road users. The tendency to be 'me first' is seen in almost every rider. Every traffic signal light is treated as if it were race start lights.

What is required is that every road user is 'educated' in how to use the roads and obey all rules.

On cheap helmets; quite a few years back I was involved in a heavy crash, I was thrown off my bike and landed on the right side of my face, the initial impact (it was also the hardest) was taken by the visor of the helmet, after which there were a couple of more on towards the right and rear side of the helmet. Quite frankly, I had no control over my body and for all the advice in the world, nothing is in our control till the whole thing is played out.

That helmet (Kiwi K20) saved my life, at the very least it saved my face (shattered cheek bone was the very least outcome without the helmet). According to me, money well spent, I was able to walk away from the crash with my head intact.

I noticed someone in this thread advocating that a cheap helmet did the job for him; ask yourself this: would that helmet's visor have withstood the impact that my helmet withstood? According to me thats a iffy and I would not bet my face and head on that.

I gladly ordered a new helmet the very next day.

First. I think its the mentality of the people. Most people wear them because its been forced upon them. The moment they get the chance, they remove it and hang the helmet on the mirrors. For them, the question of safety does not arise, its a question of avoiding paying fines. Next, even if worn, they are never strapped. I watch in amazement how these people flick the helmet with one hand and hang it on the mirrors with one fluid motion while on the move. Man this takes a lot of practice and that says a lot even on the fitting...its that loose . While I require two hands to put on/remove helmet even while standing.

Second. I sincerely wonder how much difference there is between those cheap roadside helmets and some cheap ISI marked helmets. For one, price difference is only a couple of hundreds difference. And I have seen some of these ISI marked helmets which seems much more fragile than a kids sports-multi-purpose helmet I purchased for my 4 year old nephew. I would surely like to see some auto magazine does some crash tests on Indian helmets. So far I have read only one and that only has to deal with price, noise, comfort and water leakage...no crash test.

+1 to what kaynmantis wrote, we talk only about uneducated people here in pune you find cops roaming without helmet cooly, ladies like to rip but never wear a helmet for their safety.

Its like their looks are important then their heads. I really pity such people when i see them in traffic signals thinking what the f*** will this lidless people do if they fall down and seeing their brains smashed out in the pool of blood.

Asked a guy whom i know pretty well to strap, he just smiled and moved on

Similar cases all over the country,
the same cheap lids are selling here in Punjab and Chandigarh,but as laws are made and even if someone found wearing or selling these non-ISI marked helmets is fined, but this only said by the 'LAW', even the Cops are accepting bribe from these roadside vendors for selling these plastic caps, the only way out of this is awareness. and as said by many members above said that people say "attitude problem", tell them ,what attitude if no LIFE.