Wonder when will Delhi abide by the law? How many more deaths on roads will take place before riders start wearing helmets?
We lost a friend Madhura A Pandit to an accident. On that fateful April day in 2008, she was not wearing a helmet (which normally she used to wear). A Tata Safari hit the motorcycle of her spouse, Rahul Nainwal (a leading social activist and entrepreneur) from behind at Chirag Delhi Flyover. After struggling for a week she left us. We lost a great human being. I had dropped her that evening after a meeting where we discussed on how to support colleagues on medical emergencies. She crossed to the other side of the road using the subway and sat as pillion on her spouse's bike. In less than five minutes, the accident took place.
I have made it a point to coax people to wear helmets. I circulated their picture to the Delhi Police, but to what avail,I have no idea. But I find everyone in Delhi, be it police, students, youth, elderly, men, women, flouting rules. A recent report reveals that of the 1,453 two-wheeler riders who died in accidents in the city between January 1, 2013 and June 28, 2015, 1,434 were not wearing helmets. In the same period, only 19 riders were killed who were wearing a helmet.
Just a week ago I was in Surabaya, Indonesia and was happy to see all scooterists and motorcyclists following rules and wearing helmets. Interestingly, there were no police officials either to issue challans. Here in my city, despite the presence of traffic police, people flout rules rampantly. And this is true for the nation as well. Is anyone listening?
The writer is facilitator, CityMakers Mission International and author of 'City Makers'