While there is some truth to the Police’s arguement that a fatal accident can take place right outside your house, on your local colony road or whatever, i say.. why the hell put a monetary challan for it?!

i mean.. i partially agree with Yazad here, that at the end of the day its his own life that he puts on the line. And i dont think NOT wearing a helmet makes you any more a menace to the part of society on the roads.

To the policy makers i say, Not wearing a helmet is not what kills. Not wearing a helmet and then driving like youre godsent, kills! And i say, if somebody decides not to wear a helmet [for the want of Wind-in-hair-experience, or for comfort reasons or whatever] and then they drive in an uncautious way that gets them killed.. well.. i say, thats probably for the better. Eventually that idiot-on-death-row will meet the wall someplace. So well.. i couldnt care less if it were next week or next month. He IS better off, not on the roads.

And well for the scenario when someone else with a heavier set of metal on wheels decides to make you a part of the tarmac, you COULD do better for your survival chances by putting a helmet on, but then again thats a personal decision. Its one’s own judgement. He/she is the only person that gets the raw end of the deal, for his/her decision.

So well, if i choose not to do anything about missing socket plugs for most electrical appliances at my home, and instead suck up to my laziness and rather choose to deal wit naked live wires all the time during the day, i AM at some level choosing to play the risk of being involuntarily baked! THERE!! another place where i can do better, but i still choose to risk it. I probably stand to loose my life over it at any given point. But then, you’re not planning to roll a bill in parliament to put a law pushing challans for it, right?!

so why a challan for not wearing a helmet?!

Let it be a matter of personal educated decision making powers.

And if you dont trust the average ‘Ramesh’ out there to make the right decision for something as lame as the safety of his own life, then i say.. well let him go on the roads and get himself killed. Afterall, you were ignorant enough to grant him a driving licence at some point of time, yourself. so quit trying to act smart now.

I think the contention issue here, is to make better helmets! Helmets with denser though lighter material that is ‘porous’ at the same time. Im sure technology today can come up with lids that keep your hair dry and your head cool.

Nobody seems to be working on technologies that enhance airflow in and out of a helmet. nobody seems to be working on ideas like incorporating handsfree mobiles kits inside helmets. nobodys wants to make helmets that tackle glare, helmets that take care of glass-fog up in winters/rains, helmets that are small light and dont spoil your personal ‘decor’, helmets with photochromatic glass lids that turn dark in the sun and clear through at night.

the government doesnt want to promote R&D into an area with directly affects the personal safety of a million bike riders on the roads.. while MNCs fall over each other, coming up with washing machines that soak, clean, dry, iron and fkkin even put clothes on your damn self!

the government is too busy passing more laws to put out challans on more and more stuff you can do on the roads, and make sure its cash inventory stays in the green band.

Sad state of Affairs.

This argument doesn’t hold. By injuring yourself you can impose costs on the public health system and thereby on the rest of the society. Same applies to seat belt laws, laws against tobbaco and can even be used to justify action against the purveyors of “unhealthy foods” like McDonalds. Thats the evil thing about collectivization. Once you allow a little of it, you can justifiably take a lot of activity out of the private domain.

Secondly, what does this - “I reccomend that he’s a rides a mean bike” mean?

Bhavin, my point exactly. We’re sliding down a dangerous slippery slope. Read this op-ed by Ed Hudgins of the Objectivist Center.

Gaurav, that was a joke and a plug for Sruthijit. Not connected to the main post so I put it in the read more section.