The safety of cyclists at stake

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Published on October 5, 2019 by

Cycle rental companies in Bengaluru do not provide helmets, compromising the safety of their customers.

A number of bicycle rental apps such as Namma Cycle and Yulu offer cycles at the click of a button but none of them provide any safety gear like helmets.

Ganesh Gowda a student says, “In bicycles, they don’t give helmets, whereas in bikes they do and I don’t want to compromise my safety. There can be any chance of head injuries as the condition of the roads is not up to our expectations.”

In the past three years, 29 people died and a further 139 people have been injured while riding bicycles on the roads of Bengaluru according to the Bangalore Traffic police.

Mr. Bindu Kiran, CEO of  a sport organising group Enliven says, “We need to be accomplished with our safety measures. We need to know how to use it, without this knowledge, whatever you have is waste.”

The Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) says, “In India when we look at urban areas, cycling is not as popular when compared to western countries. If more people start using it only then can a law be made on that. But the rental bicycle companies should provide the commuters with helmets.”

Eventhough there are a few bicycle lanes in certain areas of Bengaluru, the authorities say that there is a plan to make more lanes at the govrenemnt and department level.

Even though the authorities say that there is a plan, the safety of commuters continues to be at risk.

 

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