COVID-19 Special: Social Distancing motorbike?

The norms of social distancing are the new normal. Even after the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown, people are advised to maintain social distance as a preventive measure. But maintaining safe distance while travelling is a challenge. 

Providing an innovative solution to social distancing while travelling, self-made automobile engineer Partha Saha has built a motorbike designed for social distancing. 

A school drop-out, Saha developed a motorbike with a one-meter gap between the rider and the passenger. Using the scraps of an old bike, he cut the machine in two. He fixed a meter-long rod to connect the two wheels - ensuring that the riders maintain distance while travelling together.

“Now I can travel with my eight-year-old daughter while maintaining a safe distance,” he told AFP from Agartala in the north-eastern state of Tripura. 

Saha realised, even after the lockdown ends, it is unsafe to travel in public transport and thus took it up to him to develop a solution. He plans to ferry his daughter to and from school on his bike once the restrictions lift. 

“I didn’t want her to take the school bus as it would be crowded,” said the worried father. 

Saha works at a TV repair shop and used his meagre saving to ensure his family’s safety. His invention runs on battery power and has a top speed of 40 kmh. 

“The cost of charging it once comes to about 10 rupees, and it takes three hours to charge the battery which allows the bike to travel 80km,” informs Saha.

The inventor, tested his bike on the streets, leaving the onlookers stunned. He was also praised by Tripura’s chief minister, Kumar Deb.

“Necessity is the mother of invention! I congratulate Partha Sahan ... for making a unique motorcycle to create awareness during COVID-19 pandemic,” Deb tweeted.