Bike riders oppose
helmets
Sandesh Prabhudesai
13 March 2001
Motorcycle pilots - a unique
feature of Goa who provide motorcycle taxis to carry a single
person - are in trouble with a high court directive to strictly
implement the rule of wearing helmet for a rider as well
as the pillion rider.
As these pilots spread all
over in the towns and villages carry hundreds of people
every day, they fear that the rule would deprive them of
their livelihood as people sitting behind may not prefer
wearing a helmet provided by the motorcycle taxi.
Due to humidity in the coastal
state, Dnyaneshwar Sawant, one of the veteran pilots from
Mapusa, feels that any health-conscious Goan would refuse
to wear the same sticky helmet used by the others. "On the
other hand, the police will fine us heavily for carrying
the passenger without helmet", he fears.
Though motorcycle taxis
with yellow colour painted on its mudguard is a common feature
in the tourist state, people riding illegal taxis without
registering themselves as pilots has also become rampant
in the major towns of the state.
These 'influential' people,
most of whom are the government servants skipping their
official duties in order to earn extra income, have already
become a major obstacle for the official pilots in getting
their rightful share. The court verdict passed in January
this year thus spells doom for these pilots.
The court verdict in fact
boomeranged on a citizen who had challenged the rule of
wearing the helmet by the rider. Taking a step ahead while
dismissing the petition, the court made it compulsory for
both the rider and the pillion under the provisions of the
motor vehicle act from 3 April. Not wearing helmets was
cited as a major cause of large amount of two-wheeler accidents
in the state.
"The authorities need not
bother about our safety. We are capable enough of taking
care of ourselves", says Premanand Lotlikar, a village-based
dramatist who has been made convenor of the newly formed
Motorcycle Action Group. They have already started anti-helmet
campaign throughout the state.
Goa has the highest population
of two-wheelers with around 50 two wheelers getting registered
every day. Besides privately owned two wheelers and the
motorcycle taxis, Goa's coastal belt is also popular for
providing bikes on hire to the tourists - the special attraction
for the young turks visiting the beaches.
Though neither motorcycle
pilots nor the hiring agencies have formed any organisation
to fight the issue, the private two wheeler owners are pressurising
the government to change the legal provision. "Maharashtra
and Karnataka have already scrapped it", claims N Shivdas,
a writer and president of the Goa Commuters' Association.
Aires Rodrigues, a UK-returned
young lawyer supporting the anti-helmet movement, in fact
suspects hand of helmet manufacturers' lobby behind it.
Denying the allegation, transport minister Pandurang Raut
however claims that their demands are being studying sympathetically.
"We will decide about it before 3 April", he assures.
While court has made use
of helmets compulsory in order to avoid frequent accidents
taking place on the roads, the government has also worked
out an alternate state-wide plan to minimise the number
of accidents by taking appropriate steps at the accident-prone
zones. The authorities however are still silent over their
secret strategy.
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