I asked this question to a friend, he panicked and inquired back, “Challan thodi katna shuru hua? (Have they started imposing fine?)”. He relaxed when I said ‘no’.

Another one just smiled at the question and pointed towards his hair suggesting he didn’t want to ruin a Rs. 250 haircut he had had that morning. One of my office-mate was too lazy to wear one, “kya helmet-welmet!” was his reaction at the question (though he wears a stylish one now after purchasing his favourite sports bike).

Why am I writing about this boring issue? Because I saw two minor unreportable accidents before reaching my place last night; one in sector-4 and the other one near Surajpol. In one of them, a guy landed on his head. Luckily, he had worn a helmet.

Traffic signals seem to be the most boring and worst place to waste the precious 90 seconds of our life. Except for the privileged first row of vehicles at the signal, all the unrestful drivers honk their heart out when the timer at the traffic light shows 10 sec to green; and the moment one person (usually a male biker) jumps the signal at 7 sec, the whole traffic follows.

What more? At the other signal, which has only 10 sec left before it turns red, a rush of Schumachers try to make it to the other side before the signal turns red. We are so damn adventurous! Yeah!!

Considering such adventures that we experience willingly or unwillingly everyday, city administration tried their best to implement helmet-wearing among the denizens. But even after several road safety weeks, rallies, strict implementations, requests and warnings to generate awareness about safe-driving, it failed to change people’s attitude who still take helmet as a burden rather than a safety equipment.

What’s worse is the pride people take in not letting the rule be implemented successfuly. The moment we hear about administrations’ strict order on wearing helmets, some of us proudly state “thode din ka khel hai (it’s a matter of a few days)” while cribbing about what administration does not do.

I don’t know how can we bring the change in this “hum nai sudharenge” attitude. But one thing I am sure is that I do not want to see my near and dear ones get hurt because of their own or others’ driving mistake. And with what I have seen and experienced, I can say that helmets and seat-belts are the most basic and most important safety equipment for drivers, even in the city.

One should always wear helmet or seat-belt while driving, if not for his/her own safety, then for the sake of their loved ones who would be equally hurt if something bad happens.

Who am I to preach all this? I am the guy who sometimes writes or edits some of the accident news that appear in the same ‘daily’ that you are reading now; and has some friends, relatives and acquaintances saved by seat belts and helmets from unimaginably serious accidents. And, most importantly, ‘I ALWAYS WEAR HELMET’.