We can reduce the risk by great margin if we are brave enough to accept " it can happen to me " rather than it can not happen to me.
by the way off the track I am confused if i should envy your riding skill or your writing skill

very real and we need to consciously tell / remind ourselves that while the rush and excitement are expendable, our life / safety is not. We need to consciously tell ourselves to let it go if it's impossible; because then, we will live to ride another day.

Happy riding everyone

YES...

when you are going at 100 kph on the highway, you have catered for the extra risk by making your body more taut. you grip the handlebars tighter, you knees are pressing the tank harder, your body is much more tense than when you are riding at 40 kph.
hence, you are keeping the risk taking appetite constant at X, not by wearing the extra riding gear (that is only something you would need IF there is an accident) but by changing your body posture and positioning, to ENSURE the eventuality doesn't take place in the first place. risk mitigating features being the posture, not the safety kit.

gear is important, but attitude is more important.
that's my take on this...

unfortunately, the people you are talking about are the lower strata of the society, for whom, safety is less important than bringing home two square meals a day.
if your packet from amazon or flipkart or worse, your pizza from dominos/pizza hut doesn't reach home on time, you get pissed, call customer care, they might lodge a complaint, extreme cases, the delivery guy might get fired or money deducted from his salary.
for such people, safety isn't the topmost priority. and the only way this can change is if some kind of regulation is enforced on these companies on providing atleast basic safety to their employees, which, happily, is seen atleast in some companies bikers.

secondly, as it was pointed out elsewhere in the forums, 2 wheeler licences are distributed like candy in india, no actual requirement of learning the riding rules, and more importantly ETIQUETTE. most riders (and drivers) know the rules, atleast the basic ones, but they lack the manners to follow them or being gracious in following etiquette.

easiest examples are high beam etiquette and indicators etiquette.

i can think of only 2 solutions, 1 short term and 1 long term. short term includes better policing and implementation of existing laws,
and long term includes changing the way education is imparted in our schools, where etiquette training and sensitization (in life, not just on the road) is the need of the hour...

Yes, you are right but the thing is there is lots of population other than delivery guys who just refuse to accept safety & manners while driving just drive to destination is their moto.

Your second idea of sensitization is the way to go but the problems remains the same they are not interested. just try to teach your neighborhood uncle/friend about this and see their reaction.

I have tried this a million times. And I have failed. Every. Single. Time!

There seemed to be some hope, with the recent government fiasco of making helmets compulsory. But we are back to square one now, and everyone is riding without a lid again. Unless people change their attitude, and accept the risk involved (to them, as well as to others), there isn't going to be a positive change.

yeah, as i mentioned earlier, the sensitization solution is a long term one, it won't work on neighbourhood uncle/friend, it has to be implemented on the kids who are still learning, tweeners, or even younger than that. not necessarily about helmets while on bikes, but about importance of safety in all walks of life (and also importance of cleanliness and non littering). I have seen toddlers and 3 yr olds in Japan throwing litter in garbage cans WITHOUT being prompted. Japan is also the only country I have not been able to see traffic cameras to catch rule breakers. why? because their sense of responsibility is so great, that they take pride in not breaking rules.

On the contrary, when riding at 100kmph on the highway, the body gets more relaxed, grip on the handlebars looser and your mind more open and free. That is why i stay safe. If i did as you described, i would have crashed many times already!!!

I do completely agree with you on this line though - Gear is important, but attitude is more important.

Cheers

You are missing the point totally. Whenever we are riding on high speed(subjective term based on bike quality and your skill quality combined) our attitude, focus, behavior changes significantly we do become more focused on road ahead, situation awareness heightens for small changes reflex action increases. And in no way we can define it relaxed. That's why high speed driving is very taxing on body.

Now keep the same bike but increase the speed to 140 kmph(may be high speed in your terms with your skill level) will you still be relaxed. I bet Not. Or changes traffic condition, same bike with 100kmph on highway but medium traffic(again subjective term) of container truck and Interstate Buses and SUV.Feeling relaxed!!.

You can be relaxed when long good condition highway with no traffic. But again its false perception of safety if you remember term Highway hynosis.