[srvm]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

Very self righteous, I learned the lesson in a very ugly manner......

Glad to know that you were lucky to survive the mishap. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The whole 'I am risking nobody's welfare but my own' argument never ceases to amaze me.

A helmet-less rider could potentially land another motorist in jail for 'causing death by negligence', his only fault being driving in the vicinity while the rider was indulging his self-inflicted daredevilry.

My second favourite LOL argument is 'I wasn't going far'. Do accidents have an effective immunity radius from home I'm unaware of?

+ 1 to that.

Since the thread is about helmet-less travel and the resulting pain if one gets caught by cops, let me share my 2 cents.
I think OP is very lucky and here's why. Mods, please delete the post if this off-topic.

My workplace in Bangalore is a fairly huge campus with restricted access for outsiders. Roads are wide and smooth barring 3-4 well-marked speed breakers. Staff quarters are inside the campus. Vehicular traffic is fairly low too since only staff members, family and visitors can bring vehicles inside the campus.

This happened last year. A senior colleague who lived in the staff quarters drove his scooter down to the other side of the campus to visit the ATM. He had told his wife that he would be back soon with some cash. Since the drive was less than 1km and that too inside the traffic-free campus this gentleman did not wear his helmet ('I am not going far' attitude). Fatefully, he did not notice that his scooter side-stand was deployed partially. He had crossed 3 speed breakers luckily when his luck ran out on the 4th one. He was thrown in the air for a few meters and landed on his head. Fortunately, some of our colleagues rushed him to a nearby hospital within the golden hour. He spent 2 weeks under coma in the ICU, but never made home alive.
My point: Folks, wear your helmet *ALWAYS*, even for neighbourhood errands; And for your safety; Not for fear of getting caught by cops. There's always someone waiting back home for you.

Rant - The same colleagues who rushed him to the hospital, those who donated blood to him during those traumatic 2 weeks - they ride on the very same road everyday without helmet, thinking that 'It won't happen to me' or 'Its just inside the campus' or 'It is only 1km'

[khoj]

Intelligence, Education, Position in life, Success, Money, Luck have nothing in common with common sense.

Originally Posted by srvm

Rant - The same colleagues who rushed him to the hospital, those who donated blood to him during those traumatic 2 weeks - they ride on the very same road everyday without helmet, thinking that 'It won't happen to me' or 'Its just inside the campus' or 'It is only 1km'

From the description I am assuming this is the IISc campus.

[motorpsycho]

Helmet and seat belts- I always make a point to wear when going out irrespective of the distance.

This incident occurred a few days ago-

I get a office cab to ferry me to and from the office, I always wear the seat belt the moment I board the cab. It is a common argument and belief, that accident occur far away from home and short distance rides are safe.

Coming back to the cab ride, I board the cab and my driver trying to locate the next employee pick point, goes in and rams the left side of the Indica into a cement stump, this was not at a very high speed, however the amount of jerk I felt, was surprisingly huge, the seat belt held me back, else my face would have smashed into the dashboard.

Lessons learned -
Accidents and the distance of travel from you house have no co-relation.
Coming to sudden abrupt stop, even at low speeds, can cause serious damage to the car and the occupants.

[madhavgpai]

Originally Posted by diyguy

... one must wear a helmet atleast to stay away from cops, ...

Wearing a good quality helmet, you must do for yourself. Not for the cops.

I don't think the pre-license tests in our country are tests at all. Nevertheless, you should be licensed to ride a two wheeler. Get one.

I do not pity you at all. Sorry, take no offense please.

[AbhiJ]

Originally Posted by diyguy

All in all a forgettable experience and a lesson learnt that one must wear a helmet atleast to stay away from cops, mobile courts and their boorish behavior. Lost one day to this!

Now the funny part: I do not have a two wheeler license and I handed over my car driving license which only has a permit for LCV. No one even bothered to check this throughout this whole process

Forget the cops and your "ordeal". Imagine two scenarios.

1) License : You are riding a two wheeler without a license. There is an incident on the road, where a drunk pedestrian runs into the path of your bike while you are 60 kmph. You run into him. He dies from the accident.
If you do not have a valid license the legal implications of the above incident on your life will be catastrophic.

2) Helmet: You are riding a two wheeler without a helmet. There is an incident on the road, where a drunk pedestrian runs into the path of your bike while you are 60 kmph. You run into him. You fall from the bike and hit your head on a rock on the road, suffering serious head trauma. You could die / be paralyzed for life from the incident.

Please, reorganize your priorities.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

Forget the cops and your "ordeal". Imagine two scenarios.

Good scenarios but why even go to the extent of bringing in a drunk pedestrian ? On our roads it's quite common to expect a normal person to dart across the road suddenly, a Jay walker, etc so they're definitely plausible scenarios and given this situation one must always ride with a safe, ISI certified helmet, not one of the fancy 'helmets' that look like Prestige/Hawkins/Pigeon cookware, nor the construction hard hats in yellow, white or even those old style police helmets in green that are just hats - none of them will protect the head!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by motorpsycho

Helmet and seat belts- I always make a point to wear when going out irrespective of the distance.

Must have posted this a dozen times now. The day my head hit the windscreen, it happened just as the driver was pulling away from the curb and someone cut in front of him.
Probably less than walking speed. Barely a bruise. But enough to make me think.

Indeed no journey is too short.

[Aakarsh]

When I first read the title of this thread, I thought it might be regarding some new norms related to helmetless riding. But when I read the first post by diyguy, I got confused because as a member and reader of this forum for past 5-6 years, I don't expect a post which disregards the common motive which we fellow members share. We TEAM-BHP do not promote violation of motor laws neither we are here to find ways to cheat the government. We are here to make a difference and learn better road practices and promote the same. If you didn't read the rules and registered yourself here, it's better you should rather read the rules and follow them or you always have an option to discard the membership. TEAM-BHP makes us proud that atleast we are trying to make a difference and learning something good day by day. Atleast as a fellow member, I request you to please don't ruin the image which is earned by our senior members and administrators over years.

Regards
Aakarsh