Dinesh Kamath's news 'Bad roads and riding without helmet leads to rise in road deaths' that was published in Newsband

Bad roads and riding without helmet leads to rise in road deaths

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: As the satellite city becomes more and more developed, the vehicular traffic also keeps on growing and road mishaps in particular become more common affairs. With rural people migrating to urban areas, cities like Navi Mumbai feel the impact and the pressure falls particularly on police department which has to come up with new methods of controlling vehicular traffic and preventing road accidents. With rise in human population and building activities flourishing, internal and other roads take the maximum hit. These roads join nodes to main and village roads, connect settlements with highways and two state highways. Many road deaths have occurred in the recent past particularly on these roads.

The national highways also crisscross city areas and skirt villages and there is a certain length of highways that run through the city. The road deaths were more particularly on NH 4 or old Mumbai-Pune highway which runs 31 km from Dahisar Mori to Dand Phata and the highway also runs through Taloja, Panvel township and village areas and these are become prone to accidents.

The migrants try to take illegal shortcut on the NH 4B at Padeghar village and this has become a headache for the traffic department. This act of migrants has led to traffic chaos and fatalities amongst bikers.

Another dangerous spot where road mishaps are common is the high-speed corridor of Palm Beach Road. Sion-Panvel road too witnesses heavy traffic resulting in road mishaps. The accidents speak volumes about the civic body's continued apathy towards providing safe motorable roads.

On dangerous roads, wearing a helmet can save your life. The fate of many accident victims would have been a lot different if they were wearing a helmet.

Over a year after the traffic police launched a serious campaign against riding without helmet in and around the city, there appears to be no significant change in most rider's habit of skipping the critical head gear. According to data compiled by the traffic police, almost all the two-wheeler riders killed in road accidents are those who didn’t wear helmet. This should be warning enough of the fate awaiting those who drive without protective head gear.

However, consequences of a road mishap seem to be no deterrent for drivers in the city. If anything, the number of violators challaned for driving without a helmet has only increased, thus proving traffic police's sustained enforcement of the rule as on the motorist's callousness towards their own safety.

City-based doctors, including orthopaedics and neurologists, report an increase in the number of patients suffering from completely preventable injuries sustained while riding. The injuries include serious head wounds big enough to alter the victim's entire course of life. According to one of these doctors, “

In the accidents involving two wheelers, serious injuries can be prevented simply by wearing a helmet. Apart from proving fatal, a serious road accident, that involves a head injury, can severely impact the skull and brain which can take a couple of months to heal. In a worst case scenario, the victim may even be paralysed or suffer serious neurological disabilities.

A city resident suggests, “Most of the city roads are dangerous. Officials responsible for making them dangerous should be punished and should be made personally liable to compensate the road victims.” Even a minor injury can impact the brain's functioning. An injury to the head can show up in many different ways - from simple forgetfulness and lack of concentration to severe migraines and insomnia. In some cases, old-age related Alzheimers and Parkinson's disease, even epilepsy may be rooted in a head injury sustained several years ago. The risks are far too grave to be ignored and a helmet is the easiest way to prevent injury."

A senior policeman said, “It is wrong that riders resist wearing a helmet. Riders give the most illogical arguments for disobeying not only a rule, but also a directive on the matter from the Supreme Court. They forget that by not wearing a helmet, they are only endangering their own life. Most of them continue to live with false notions that nothing can happen to them."
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