Hellmet

It is hot outside. The traffic is heavy and slow moving. It is a dead straight road. The maximum speed I can possibly sustain for more than 3-5 seconds is a jaw dropping 15 kmph. I never get beyond the 3rd gear on my bike. And then, after what seems to be an eternity, you hit the dreaded and long-since-hoped-against red traffic light. Now, there is no breeze either. The head reels thanks to the still air. I sweat. Profusely.

It is a narrow lane. It’s quiet and deserted. At every road intersection there is a speed breaker. Between every pair of speed breakers, there is a small rut/pothole. You can’t cross 15 kmph if you care for your bike, back or both.

While I do have a head, and since helmets are to protect those with a head, helmets and I should go hand in glove. But it’s a rather head-to-head relation, sadly. I drive in only the above mentioned two situations – bad traffic jams and narrow empty lanes which are punctuated by speed breakers and back breakers. Of course, to be fair, helmets do block the dust and pollution and most importantly, offers significant safety as well.

If you ask me, the helmet is needed only under certain conditions. We are responsible people, we know when we should be wearing it. Let’s not enforce it, always and everywhere. Maybe wearing it encourages rash driving and road rage. I have seen dozens of people stuffing their phones between their ears and the helmet’s inner ‘wall’ and chattering away. Of course it’s safer to talk that way, now that both the hands are on the bike’s controls. Plus, now they might just protect their phones as well.

In the driving situations, which I drive in, it is complete redundancy. I need a smart helmet. G-sensing, roll-pitch-yaw-sensing helmets with collision detection. Forget smart phones. My helmets should normally be wrapped around my ears, like a big pair of headphones, and then, in times of need (God forbid), just pop open. In 50 milliseconds. Best of safety and convenience. It’s funny, but do we ask car drivers to drive with their air bags inflated always? Just in case?