Woman biker on 'safety with helmet' mission heads for HP, Uttarakhand
AGRA: To spread awareness on road safety and importance of wearing helmets, specially by women, a 33-year-old biker from Mathura, Pooja Yadav , embarked on a journey to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on her motorcycle on Monday.
Yadav, a lone woman crusader pushing for safety by donning the helmet by women, has already travelled over 10,000 km on her Royal Enfield Thunderbird last over the past one year, covering 17 states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh .
She has visited 34 cities to spread the message of road safety among women.
“Women usually do not wear helmets as they feel that pillion riders are not required to wear it,” says Pooja, adding that she wants to tell all that safety is a must for all whether they are drivers or pillion riders. She said she usually visits girls’ schools wherever she travels on her safety mission to explain to students the importance of wearing a helmet.
Though an acrophobic (fear of heights), it has not deterred her from travelling to the hilly areas this time. Her mission is more important than her fears, says this mother of an eight-year-old son.
“Women usually do not wear helmets as they feel that pillion riders are not required to wear it,” says Pooja, adding that she wants to tell all that safety is a must for all whether they are drivers or pillion riders. She said she usually visits girls’ schools wherever she travels on her safety mission to explain to students the importance of wearing a helmet.
Though an acrophobic (fear of heights), it has not deterred her from travelling to the hilly areas this time. Her mission is more important than her fears, says this mother of an eight-year-old son.
Asked what motivated her to take up the safety mission, she told TOI that she learned to drive a motorcycle in 2016 after she lost someone dear to her in a road accident for not wearing a helmet.
In her 15-day tour to Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand state, Yadav will spread the message that it is not only important to wear a helmet but a good quality ISI marked one for safety purposes.
According to figures provided by the road surface and transport ministry, close to 43,600 two-wheeler riders with helmets died in road accidents in 2018, which is 21% higher than the previous year (35,975). The share of pillion riders without helmets who were killed in road accidents for the same period this year is about 15,360.
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