Children at risk, must wear helmets

NEW DELHI: It took the Delhi government more than a decade to get women to wear helmets. It may be time to get children too on board without any delay. Road safety advocates and two-wheeler riders in the city agree that children are most vulnerable in this regard. And while the country has made wearing helmets mandatory for all drivers and adult passengers, there is no specific legislation for minors to wear helmets when riding pillion.The fact that many are illegally in the driver's seat is another problem.
Ritu Sarin, a mother of two, agrees with the need for a law for children. "I see families on two-wheelers, with one child standing in the front and the other sitting at the rear. It looks so dangerous," she says. A two-wheeler driver herself, Sarin says she has bought a helmet for her five-year old child who sits on the rear seat of her scooter. "Since the Indian market doesn't seem to have any standards for children's helmets, I bought one on a trip abroad," she says.
However, helmets for children are manufactured in India too though they have not been so popular. Shailender Jain of Steelbird says they make helmets based on ISI norms. "Around 1,000 units for children are sold every month in north India though the response is better in south, at places like Kerala and Bangalore," says Jain. Significantly, of these 1,000 helmets sold by them, Jain says around 10 per cent are only for pillion riders. "80 per cent of the sales are for children who drive two-wheelers," he claims. These helmets are available in the market but not as easily as the regular ones.
Like Sarin, an increasing number of people are waking up to the need for ensuring that the children are safe. According to officials in the transport department, the motor vehicle laws have no specific clause. "There is no separate provision for children to wear helmets as passengers, just like there is no provision for seat belts in the rear seat of four-wheeler vehicles," confirmed a senior transport official. At present, the Delhi traffic police doesn't prosecute two-wheeler drivers who carry minor passengers without helmets. Children can be seen riding without a helmet, clinging on to an adult. More dangerously, children without helmets are allowed to stand at the front of a two-wheeler.
The issue is critical as Delhi leads in road fatalities in the country. Last year, 3,700 children died in 8,853 accidents. Experts say children are more at risk in an accident than adults. For instance, children are more likely than adults to suffer severe consequences from concussions. These consequences include second impact syndrome, which is often fatal or results in learning impairment.
Abroad, laws governing wearing of helmets by children are the norm. While some countries like Canada and United Kingdom have made it mandatory for all passengers, including children, to wear helmets, others have kept an age-limit for wearing the helmet. British Columbia in Canada, Australia and some states in the US even penalize the adult driver for allowing a child to ride pillion on a two-wheeler without a helmet.
In fact, some countries have gone a step ahead and made it mandatory for children to wear helmets even while riding bicycles.
While India is far behind when it comes to such road safety laws, a basic start could be made by making helmets mandatory for children.
Said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner, traffic: "There should be a drive for making helmets compulsory for children. We have been urging riders to make sure that anyone who rides pillion must wear a helmet. Now that the drive to make women wear helmets has been successful, we can educate families to get helmets for their children too."