Bike Accident on ORR

The ghastly superbike bike accident in Hyderabad yesterday which left a teenager dead and another one in hospital in critical condition. When I look back at the incident there are several things I find which are nagging and not exactly at the right place, some thing which should have been foreseen which would have reduced criticality of Azahar’s son’s condition and the other kid might have survived.

First thing i see is what the guys were wearing while taking a ride on the expressway, as I noticed they were dressed in ordinary shoes, jeans, T-shirts and for protection a helmet, now that’s wholly insufficient, any superbike aficionado would know that fireproof leather overalls, biking shoes, gloves and the best quality Arai or X-lite helmet are an absolute must while riding high capacity bikes and trying to break the sound barrier.

Any superbike poster in India or across the world always shows the rider in this right riding gear, in fact the Suzuki motorcycle homepage on web shows a rider on GSX-R 1000 wearing an Arai helmet and Alpinestar bike overalls with armor protection for chest and spine. Imagine if the kids were using the right set of protection, the outcome could have been little comforting.

Today’s teenagers, especially the ultra rich ones, know how to drive a monster bike but don’t think about the safety measures to be followed for responsible and safe driving. The protective gear costs just a fraction of the cost of the superbike and I am sure who ever can afford a thirteen lakh bike can spend a couple more on an Alpinestar full body suit, shoes, gloves and helmet.

The motorcycle manufacturing companies and dealers should promote the protective accessories at the same time they are trying to sell expensive bikes in fact their should be a customer education seminars at bike showrooms informing ways of handling big bikes, safe driving and protection required.

The other thing worth mentioning is that the outer ring road work is not yet complete even two years after inauguration, there is missing divider at some places, sign boards are not proper and missing at many places, there is no arrangement of lights and of course there is not patrolling for errant two wheelers or stray cattle.

The authorities should take a note of this, this accident could have been completely avoided if the bike riders were denied entry on a four wheel exclusive road.