'Helmet Man' goes bankrupt, but will continue his noble ride

LUCKNOW: A young man is speeding above 100 kmph on his two-wheeler without a helmet towards Etawah on the Agra-Lucknow expressway. To his surprise, he is intercepted by a car bearing a slogan on its rear wind-shield that reads 'Yamraj ne bheja hain bachaane ke liye, upar jagha nahi jaane ke liye'. The driver gets out of the car and offers a helmet to the bike rider and then requests him to continue his journey wearing the helmet.
The two-minute video of the incident went viral on Tuesday, with social media users hailing the car driver for his road safety sensitivity. To date, this driver, who wears a helmet even while driving a car, has distributed over 56,000 helmets across the country and has saved 30 people in nearly one decade. However, now he is finding it difficult to sustain the safety campaign. He has already sold his apartment in Greater Noida and has even borrowed cash against his wife's jewellery to buy helmets for helmet-less riders.
"Call me a madman, but I'll continue with my endeavour for road safety. In the next few weeks I'll shift back to my ancestral village Bhadari of Kaimur district in Bihar, as I cannot sustain the expense of buying helmets and taking care of my family simultaneously. I have a six-year-old son (Ansh Singh) whom I am planning to get admitted in a government school of my village as a cost-cutting measure, but I'll continue to buy helmets and save lives," said Raghvendra Singh, who was legal advisor to many multinational companies before he became full-time road safety volunteer.
Better known as Helmet Man of India, 36-year-old Raghvendra shared the tragic death story of his friend which triggered him to take up the road safety initiative.
"Back in March 2014, I lost my close friend Krishan Kumar Thakur in a road accident in Greater Noida. He was helmet-less when he had an accident with his two-wheeler. He was the sole child of his parents and was born after 20 years of their marriage. I just couldn't get over the pain of this loss and since that day I decided to give a helmet to any person who is riding a two-wheeler without a helmet," said Singh, who currently lives in rented accommodation in Greater Noida.
Last month, an Indore man (Vikram Singh) whom Raghvendra had offered a helmet after he spotted him riding a two-wheeler without helmet in Delhi, survived a road accident in Kota just a week later. The helmet saved Vikram's head, while his two-wheeler was crushed beyond repair.
Even minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had lauded Raghvendra for his road safety endeavour.
"I was lauded for my efforts by the Union minister and even by some other prominent personalities including actors, but I never got support for which I'm sad, but have no regrets. My only goal is to save lives for my friend. I hope someday, someone with better resources will join me in this endeavour. Right now, it's just my wife Dhanlaxmi Singh and son who support me unconditionally," said Raghvendra.
Raghvendra plans to live at his father Radhey Shyam Singh's house in Bihar and continue with his endeavour.