mobanmarketA recent by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that in the year 2021, a total of 46,593 died in road accidents were not wearing helmets.
Of these, 32,877 victims were drivers and 13,716 were passengers.
BCCL
Jump To
Helmet, the difference between life and death
In other words, 127 lives were lost every day in 2021 on the roads, because they were not wearing helmets.
Helmets play a crucial role in preventing a road accident from turning into a fatal one.
According to the WHO, the correct use of a helmet can lead to a 42% reduction in the risk of fatal injuries and a 69% reduction in the risk of head injuries.
Unfortunately, a large section of our population is unaware of this, and only learns it the hard way when they lose someone close to them in a road accident.
BCCL
A tragic lesson
This is what Raghvendra Kumar, a native of Gopalganj, Bihar also learned in 2014, when his friend, KK Thakur, an engineering student, died in a two-wheeler accident in Delhi.
“I was a law student and my friend was studying engineering and we were roommates. In March 2014, he met with a road accident. He only had a head injury, and nowhere else. He was admitted in hospital for 8-9 days and the family spent around Rs 18 lakhs, but we could save his life. he was the only child of his parents,” Kumar told Indiatimes.
Helmet Man Of India
No one should go through this
The tragic death had a profound impact on Kumar, who failed to recover from the loss of his friend, for a very long time.
The trauma also gave him a firm resolve to do something so that others don’t have to go through what he and his friend’s family went through.
That is how donating helmets to two-wheeler passengers on the road was born. Since 2014, Kumar, who is popularly called Helmet Man of India has donated over 56,000 helmets.
“I started this mission in 2014, with an aim to create awareness about the use of helmets so that at least the future generations of this country will not loss their lives on the roads due to carelessness,” Kumar said.
Helmet Man Of India
Lost his savings, house distributing helmets
In the eight years, since he started distributing helmets for free, Kumar exhausted his earnings and savings. He even had to sell his house in Delhi to pay off the debts, but this has not deterred the 35-year-old who calls his mission, a war against road accidents.
“I want the people who received helmets from me and those who told me that their lives were saved by them to become my voice and spread awareness about the need of wearing helmets, while riding two-wheelers. I have also met with many families of road accident victims who told me that they want to support me so that no one else will die on the road like their loved ones,” he said.
Helmet Man Of India
Telling people why helmets are important
Given the general reluctance towards wearing helmets and the lack of awareness, Kumar said that it is important to convey the message in an impactful manner.
“While distributing helmets, I have even told people that the spirit of a road accident victim who lost his life on the same spot has sent me to tell them to be wear helmets for their own safety,” he said.
Helmet Man Of India
Helmet’s quality matters
Along with the lack of awareness, Kumar said the quality of helmets also plays a major role in saving lives after an accident.
“Unfortunately for many people, helmet is something that they use to get away from being penalised by the traffic police. So they buy a cheap helmet that costs a few hundred Rupees, which they mostly worn on the elbows or just hanging behind the bike. It is import to wear quality helmets, that provides safety and comfort at the same time,” he said.
Helmet Man Of India
Collecting, distributing used books
Other than donating helmets, Kumar, a lawyer by profession is also involved in gathering and distributing used books to the needy, which has now grown into several libraries.
“After my friend’s death, I visited his home one day and found a lot of his books lying around. I took some of them with me and gave them away to a student in Patna. A few months later I got a call from his parents saying that the boy had become the distract topper, thanks to the books I had given him. It was another learning experience and since then I made it a point that the helmets are given away in exchange of old books, which are then distributed to needy students,” Kumar said.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Click Here: mens nrl jerseys