Forget the heat, wear a helmet!

Sohail Rashid

The Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) have made it mandatory for people to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle for their own safety but many people, mostly youngsters, do not like it as they think it is something unnecessary.

One can easily spot traffic police personnel issuing fine tickets to motorcyclists for not wearing a helmet. It is observed that youngsters keep a helmet with them, but it remains hanging on the safeguard of their bike and they only wear it where there is a likelihood of presence of a traffic sergeant.

“Youngsters wear helmets just to avoid ‘challan’ otherwise they have no concern with the risk to which they expose themselves to while riding a bike without having a helmet on their head,” said a traffic constable who was on duty near Sector G-9. He said that he daily issues challan tickets to eight to ten motorcyclists for not wearing a helmet.

“In the past, we used to just warn people on the violation of helmet but that was not very useful. However now we have controlled the situation by changing our policy and now we do not give any kind of relaxation to these law violators,” said another traffic constable.

A traffic police personnel said that many bike-riders wear helmets after seeing him from a distance and when he stops them for issuing a ‘challan’ chit they say that they are wearing a helmet. He said that the ITP is trying its best to educate people on traffic rules, which is essential for their safety. “The situation is comparatively better than the past and hopefully it would further improve in future. We just need public cooperation,” he added.

On the other hand, bike-riders take helmets as something irritating and useless. “I always feel suffocation in helmet, especially in summer. It becomes more difficult to wear a helmet in hot and humid weather,” said Rehan Saleem, a teenage bike-rider.

“No one can enjoy riding a bike with a heavy helmet on the head,” said Wasim Ahmad, another youngster.

A helmet-free ride on a motorbike gives joy and a feeling of freedom, but at the same time it poses a grave risk. There have been a number of road accidents in which people lost their lives just because of not wearing a helmet. It is better to bear suffocation and heat for a few minutes than risking your life which is a real joy for you and your family.