For 59%, helmets do not matter at all

JAIPUR: Every year, at least 40,000 people are admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital alone in the city with injuries sustained from traffic accidents. But no lesson seems to have been learnt from the rising number of fatalities and injuries caused by accidents.
A recent study conducted in the state shows that 59% of people riding two-wheelers do not wear helmets at all, while only 39% wore them correctly.Meanwhile, only 34% wore seat belts correctly in the state.
A total of 1.17 lakh two-wheel riders and 57,504 pillion riders from all seven divisions of the state - Jaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Bikaner - were surveyed for the study, said to be the first-of-its-kind in the country.
To some extent, the Jaipur division fared better in following traffic rules for safety compared to the other six divisions of the state.
But, in Jaipur division too, a huge chunk of people do not follow traffic rules.
Though helmets are compulsory for riding pillion in the city, only 41.5% pillion riders were found wearing them in Jaipur division.
While 70% four-wheel drivers were found wearing seat belts in Jaipur, 54% reportedly use them overall in Rajasthan. The people of Bharatpur division followed traffic norms the least in comparison to other divisions.
While only 15% two-wheeler riders wore helmets correctly, a measly 1.7% pillion riders wore them correctly, with 8.4% four-wheel drivers wearing seat belts and 4.4% co-passengers doing the same in Bharatpur.
The study further shows that a mere 0.1% pillion riders wore helmets in Kota.
On the action front, the study shows 19% four-wheel drivers were stopped by the police in the past three months, with one-third of them left with a warning.
The Center for Injury Research, IIHMR University, conducted this baseline study to help the Centre for Road Safety, Sardar Patel University of Police (SPUP) Security and Criminal Justice, to implement a project to improve road safety in the state. The data was gathered between February 2015 and March 2015.
The overall goal of the baseline study was to assess the current status of helmet and seat belt use in the state, and to find out about the knowledge, attitude and practice of the same by the drivers and co-passengers. The study is expected to help future interventions in improving traffic safety in Rajasthan.
"This is for the first time that a study has covered all three settings -- urban, rural and highways in all seven administrative divisions of whole of the state - in the country," said Dr Alok Mathur, associate professor, coordinator of Center for Injury Research (CIR), IIHMR University, Jaipur.
"In terms of findings on pillion riders, a little less than 12% wore helmets correctly, about 88% had not worn helmets at all. Jaipur had the highest percentage compliance, with 41.5% pillion riders wearing helmets correctly, followed by Jodhpur (18.8%), Udaipur (15.8%), Bikaner (1.9%), Bharatpur (1.7%), Ajmer (0.3%) and Kota (0.1%) at the very bottom."
The self-reported use of helmets by motorcycle riders in urban areas was 60.8%, rural 41% and highways 56.2%.
Two-third of the respondents who were surveyed said that helmets saved lives, a little less than 50% said it was required by law, one-third of them said they wore one to prevent fines, less than one-fourth reported they wore helmets to protect themselves from weather and about 2% said they were forced to do so by family members.