Wear helmet, or else, Yama warns two-wheeler riders

Coimbatore: Two-wheeler riders passing through Mettupalayam Road on Monday were surprised to see Yama, the lord of death, berating those who had not worn helmet. But his minions distributed sweets and congratulatory notes to those who had the headgear in place.
They were the students of Ganga Institute of Health Sciences, urging motorists to follow road safety rules, as part of a road safety campaign launched by Uyir people’s movement against road accidents at seven major junctions between Chinthamani and Thudiyalur.

“While the lord of death threatened the rule breakers with the worst, those who had worn helmets were given sweets and memento. We hope that all two-wheeler riders will start wearing helmets at least to avoid being stopped by Yama and pulled up in public,” said founder of Uyir S Rajasekaran.

The road safety campaign, inaugurated by police commissioner Sumit Charan, will be on till Wednesday. “We realized that while 70% of the riders wore helmets, they had not strap it below the chin. Without the strap in place, the helmet is useless. World over, people know that they have to stop when they see a yellow light. In India, it is during the yellow light that people drive at maximum speed. In 20 minutes we were there, a motorcycle hit another one just when the yellow light turned red,” Rajasekaran told TOI.