Helmet Wars

As expected the helmet seems to the center of all the talks in Tamil Nadu for past two days. In spite of the compulsory helmet rule was passed by the government on June 7th by the direction of Madras High Court, our esteemed two-wheeler owners didn’t care for it for all these weeks. Most of them marched to the helmet shops only at the 11th hour. The cost went three times more than the actual price and there were heavy rush.

Alternative Helmets

People went with different ideas to substitute the helmet- One guy wore a cricket helmet, one a vada-setti or tawa or cooking pan and some even sported with a paannai or earthen pot. Looks like our people as we fondly call ourselves as Tamilians must be from a unique gene pool, who can see fun in such safety oriented and life threatening things. 

Knee-jerk reaction

The court order was welcoming, but the government reaction was not thoughtful. There are approximately 1.5 crore 2-wheelers in Tamil Nadu. I’m estimating approximating 60-70% of people haven’t owned helmet, the percentage will go high outside Chennai. The government should have asked for more time to make the shopkeepers to procure the stock. Not to forget most of the small towns doesn’t even have a dedicated helmet shop. 

Some tips for using

If you got one and a first time user, then consider the following to properly use it,

--Make sure you got the bike side mirrors and adjust it so that you can see the incoming vehicles. Start using the indicator lights\hand signals while making a turn (stop turning your head to indicate).

--With the helmet visor closed, you won’t feel the speed of your vehicle, meaning you tend to ride faster unless you keep an eye on the speedometer. 

--No matter what kind of helmet you use, if your full head is covered, you will always hear less outside sound\noise, so be cautious and don’t use headphones with helmet.

--Lastly, ensure your helmet is not stolen.

A funny incident happened sometime back, check this, so be doubly careful.

**Images are googled