Crash helmet can save thousands of precious lives in India

“I don't want a pickle/Just want to ride my motorcycle/..And I don't want to die/ I just want to ride on my motorcycle”, goes 'The Motorcycle song' by American folk singer Ario Guthrie. Motorcycle and its smoother version, scooter, are the staple vehicles of people in low-income countries around the world.

- SATISH KUMAR SHARMA

The first commercial motorcycle to hit the market was Hildebrand & Wolfmüllerin 1885. Scooter, or the motorcycle-scooter to be precise, came in 1914 and Vespa scooter became a cult- classic after it was featured in the film Roman Holiday in 1953. Unfortunately, both the two-wheelers score low on stability and safety as compared to cars. According to the US Department of Transportation, the number of fatalities per vehicle-mile-travelled is 37 times higher for motorcycles than cars. That is why a crash helmet (helmet in short) is necessary for a motorbike rider.

Helmet has been a trusty friend of soldiers since ancient times and is honoured in the military lore along with gun and boots in the Battlefield Cross, the sign of the fallen soldier. However, it was made mandatory for motorcyclists only after 1940 and there is a tragic story behind it associated with TE Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) who became a keen motorcyclist in his later years.