Hyderablog

Helmet Law...a Second Coming?

Hyderabad is a city that crawls with motorcycles. Together with scooters, they outnumber cars on the road. Yet despite the preponderance of two-wheelers, as they're called here, the percentage of riders that wear helmets is alarmingly low. I would estimate that no more than 20% of riders wear helmets. Even scarier is that there are easily more helmet-wearers than there are people who wear seat belts when riding in cars. It was only recently that new cars began coming equipped with rear seat belts, and child safety seats are pretty much non-existent here. Kids often ride up front in the passenger seat, unbelted, and sometimes little ones will sit in the driver's seat between dad's legs, "helping" him drive. Perhaps most inexplicable is that a good many drivers choose to fold their car's side-view mirrors inward toward the car, rendering them unusable. I guess the idea is that if no one else is paying attention or using their mirrors, I might as well fold my mirrors in to make my car as skinny as possible, thus minimizing the likelihood of someone clipping my mirror. Of course, all this makes one want to scream, and while I admit there have been occasions where this laxity has rubbed off on me, I need all the mirrors I can get when dealing with Hyderabad's road chaos.

With respect to helmets and two-wheelers, there have been some aborted attempts to legislate this and make the wearing of helmets compulsory. There may still even be some law on the books dealing with this at the national level, but here in Hyderabad it has not been enforced at all. Sometime last year there was a big push here to make helmets mandatory. A deadline was announced, articles appeared in the newspaper and, most significantly, roadside helmet vendors multiplied rather quickly. The issue was much-discussed, with people speculating whether or not the measure could be successfully implemented. Finally, about a week before the deadline, the government announced the rule was being cancelled, citing the need to better educate the public, make affordable helmets more widely available, etc. Basically, a combination of political pressure and the widespead belief that the law would be extremely difficult to enforce killed the notion. Some questioned whether the whole thing was just a way to boost helmet sales.

Now the new State goverment is giving the helmet law another shot. So starting next month, it will be mandatory for those driving two-wheelers to wear a helmet. It's entirely unclear, however, whether the new regulation will actually take effect this time, and if so, to what extent it will be enforced. Officials have already said that initially, helmetless drivers would only be issued a warning. And the law will apply only to the drivers for the first few months, leaving passengers (often women and young children) free to ride without helmets. Also in question is the extent to which the law will be enforced among Sikh riders. Ever try wearing a helmet when your hair is wrapped up in a large turban?

The importance of this is underscored by the sheer number of people who ride on two-wheelers here every day. Unlike in the U.S., where motorcycles and scooters are usually ridden by one or two persons, in Hyderabad this is considered to be family transportation. It is not at all uncommon to see families of three or four riding on a single motorbike or scooter. The usual configuration for this is husband up front driving, with an older child seated between him and the handlebars. In the rear, the mother sits side-saddle, holding a younger child or baby in her lap. On numerous occasions, I've seen five people crammed onto one vehicle, though I've not yet encountered six. Irrespective of the number of riders, it's typical that none of them will be wearing a helmet.

Despite the seemingly precarious nature of such travel, especially when coupled with post-monsoon potholes, the near-absence of pedestrian sidewalks and the make-your-own-rules nature of driving here, I've observed surprisingly few traffic accidents. And thankfully, the road and traffic conditions here generally prevent one from going any faster than about 40-45 mph in the city. Still, I look forward to the second coming of the helmet law, though the cynical side of me suspects something will come along to derail it once again, leaving Hyderabadis free to enjoy the wind in their hair.

posted by David @ 1:33 AM