A safety or crash helmet like the one in picture will give the bike rider a better chance to survive a fall.
IN THIS
edition, we carry a report on the drive against bike riders who wear no safety
helmets.
The
crackdown was launched by the municipal government of Jose Panganiban at the beginning
of last month.
A few days ago,
a frequent visitor to Mambulao from Metro Manila has noticed that all riders –
both the driver and the back rider – that she had seen were wearing the
required crash helmets and she quipped: “Aba, halos lahat ng mga
naka-motor eh may helmet … bakit kaya?”
Apparently,
the initiative, which was resurrected from a five-year- old municipal ordinance
banning riders with no-safety helmet, has been relative success.
We could say
that the campaign up to this time has succeeded in removing from our roads
potential addition to death statistics.
MWBuzz has
reported (in this edition) four incidents of motorcycle mishaps that claimed at
least four lives last April. They involved three men and a woman who died violently
as their heads split after crashing on the concrete pavement.
The scenario
of their deaths was common: A bike rider was driving ala- Evel Knievel -- that late
motorcycle daredevil and stunt artist – along the town road with the usual disregard
of pedestrians and passengers in other vehicles.
The presence
of paved road in many spots in the poblacion has also encouraged bikers to drive
wild. He/she would weave in and out of the lane as if trying to beat a deadline somewhere.
And he/she
wore no safety or crash helmet.
Then, a
MASSIVE CRASH.
After six
weeks of operations that covered both the municipal and national roads on the
outskirts of the poblacion, there seems to be a remarkable drop in motorcycle
accidents.
Being
careful this time is just a natural human reaction. The riders are aware that
they are being watched by no less than 10 “anti-no-helmet biker” enforcers who
are posted in strategic spots around town.
Their job is
to check violators and impose a P100 fine for such a violation. And this has a
dividend alongside – they are also able to ferret out unlicensed driver, badly
maintained machine, expired driving licenses and more.
Since the
enforcers get half of the fines collected, their eagerness to catch more
violators is overwhelming.
This
campaign is very timely because very soon, the entire municipality would see
long stretches of cemented roads, which could be more fun for bikers to drive
on.
Take for
instance the Parang-Larap road – this is a more-or-less a six to seven
kilometers of uninterrupted cemented road.
Just imagine
the fun it would give a biker, who would love driving this long ribbon of
cement at top speed, and non-stop.
So it really
make sense to protect our bikers by requiring them to wear safety helmets after
giving them a smooth road to speed on, but hopefully, not to die on.
- Alfredo P Hernandez
No comments:
Post a Comment