BENGALURU: More than half of Indian two-wheeler riders admit to not wearing a Helmet while riding on the road. An even higher proportion of pillion riders neglect to wearing one while riding pillion.

Revealing the dangerous and life-threatening practice of most Indians while riding their two wheelers on Indian roads, Exide Life Insurance as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative conducted a nationwide Survey, highlighting the issue of road safety across India. The survey was conducted as part of Helmet Saves.

1118 respondents were directly interviewed in the cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai and Ahmedabad between October 12 and November 7 this year.

According to the survey, riders decide to ride helmetless for a variety of reasons – 13% of them cite cost of a helmet, while 16% believe that they are not required to by the law. 22% of them simply ride bare-headed due to a force of habit. Surprisingly, nearly 29% admit to riding without a helmet for reasons of comfort.

“It is a known fact that helmets work for two-wheeler riders. Even though they don’t make you invincible, helmets decrease the severity of the injury. Yet, surprisingly, more than 70% of Indians admit to have ridden a bike as a rider without wearing a helmet. Unfortunately, while parents realise that it should be mandatory for children to have the necessary safety gear in place while riding on two-wheelers, implementation of it, is not rigorously practised on a day to day basis,” said Mohit Goel, Director, Marketing and Direct Channel, Exide Life Insurance.

“As the survey brings out, staggeringly, nearly a quarter (24%) of parents would allow their children to ride a two-wheeler helmetless, and a half see such child pillions riding unprotected at least once a day,” Goel added.

The survey also highlights the issue of pillion rider’s safety wherein it states that 23% of respondents believe that the pillion rider actually faces less risk than the rider of the two wheeler.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of riders would allow a pillion rider without a helmet, and an equal proportion of pillion riders (24%) admit that they would accept such a lift, helmetless, if they were offered, the survey states.

Goel further said, “The initiative was launched using a combination of film, digital and on ground activation, the compelling narrative used in the program has received overwhelming response. It has become one of the top pieces of content being shared on social media with viewers asking their friends and family to ‘Always wear a helmet’ while they ride their two-wheelers. Through Helmet Saves, we will continue to create awareness on the importance of wearing helmets to ensure reduction in the number of road traffic fatalities in the coming years.”