If you heard that 16 Indians die every hour on Indian roads, you’d probably do everything you possibly could to be safer. One group in Pune though, sees things very differently. While common sense and Indian law mandate safety measures like helmets, this group wants the helmet rule to be scrapped for fear of “real killers” like spondylitis and hair fall! Even in the face of some grim statistics. India, with 1, 39, 091 deaths in 2013, has the most road accident fatalities in the world. That statistic can be sugar-coated by pointing out that when considered in proportion to our total population, the figure looks better. Even so, it’s hard to fathom that the entire population of Bermuda – twice over – perishes every year on Indian roads.



Considering that estimates suggest over 60 per cent of Indian motor vehicles are two-wheelers, one would imagine that as a society, we would be doing everything possible to improve road-safety measures for these vehicles – and you’d be right. The Indian Judiciary has repeatedly upheld Sections 128 and 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act that deal with the matter of wearing protective headgear and two-wheeler safety.