People are often intrigued at the sight of Niranjan Behera. A truck driver of Jagatsinghpur, Niranjan is never seen without a helmet, be it while driving, walking on the street or even sitting on the verandah of his house. Niranjan is inspired by ‘Helmet Man of India’ Raghvendra Kumar who has been distributing helmets free of cost to people across the country since 2014. But he does not distribute helmets.
Instead, he wears one all the time except while eating and sleeping to make people realise its importance. Hailing from Mangalpur, the 56-yearold truck driver started his awareness drive five years back. Being a truck driver, Niranjan said, he has been witness to a lot of accidents on roads, particularly involving youths who do not wear helmets. The statistics on accidental deaths involving motorcyclists strengthened his decision to take up this cause.
“You will still see a lot of youth in the area violating traffic rule of wearing a helmet while driving. While there is lack of awareness on the importance, some simply do not want to or are bothered about their hairstyle. Most of the accident victims are such youths and also those who ride pillion without helmet,” said Niranjan.
His profession helps him meet a lot of people and spread the message. While working for Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL) as its driver, he used to transport hundreds of labourers every day. “I used to meet their families and also young workers and tell them about the need for wearing helmet while driving a motorcycle,” recalled Niranjan, whose efforts were also appreciated by PPL’s safety officers.
Although the 56-year-old left PPL five years back, he continues to drive trucks in Paradip area and wears a helmet while driving heavy vehicles. And his helmet has social messages on them like ‘no drinking and driving’, ‘don’t drive without a helmet’, ‘don’t drive when drowsy’, ‘respect women’ and ‘say no to pickpocketing’. Niranjan believes that no person should go through the agony of losing a loved one in an accident.
He wants parents to teach their children traffic rules and the importance of wearing helmets from a young age. As per traffic rules, children above four years of age should wear a helmet. The Good Samaritan doesn’t stop at that. He rushes accident victims to hospitals and informs their families and the police. Also, he distributes biscuits and water to truck drivers and pedestrians on the highways.