Helmets causing hairloss: College girls

Meghanien Dutta / TNN / Sep 13, 2006, 01:47 IST

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Hyderabad students have appealed to the traffic police to exempt them from wearing helmet as it ‘causes’ loss of hair.

HYDERABAD: Additional commissioner of traffic police A K Khan almost fell from his chair recently when a bunch of young students from a city women's college approached him with a strange request.
"Can you grant us exemption from wearing helmets while we drive two-wheelers. We spend about Rs 4,000 to straighten and perm our hair. Wearing a helmet spoils it," the girls told the amused cop.
There is no provision under the law to grant exemption to two-wheeler drivers from wearing helmets.But in the recent weeks, Khan's office has been flooded with applications seeking such exemptions.
The excuses are many - ranging from headaches to hairloss. Some say they are getting migraine attacks as a result of wearing a helmet, while others have contended that the weight of the helmet is too heavy for them to carry on their slender heads.

Yet others have asserted that donning a helmet has resulted in restricting their vision, making it dangerous for them to drive.
There are also some applications seeking exemption from drivers on the ground that their spondylitis has been worsened as a result of wearing helmets...
...
"Before the helmet rule was brought into force we did extensive studies. The studies proved that wearing helmets neither cause headache or hairloss," Khan told TOI.

But life is all about being practical, Khan says. So even if there are no rules specifically for granting exemptions, the traffic department is actually giving them to some applicants.
"About 10-12 exemptions are given per week," the traffic head concedes. Most of them are on medical grounds.
"There was a case where the person underwent a head surgery and the protrusion on his head was irritating while using a helmet. We gave him exemption on health grounds," Khan said.
Analysts said while granting exemptions on serious medical grounds was fine, the fact that exemptions were possible is bound to increase pressure on the traffic department.
"India is a country of ‘sipharises' and the police are bound to fall for some and grant some undeserved exemptions," an analyst averred.
For the records, international research proves that the risk of death is reduced to 81 per cent while using a helmet. This means that seeking an exemption from wearing your helmet could well be your request for a death sentence!

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