Blogs

How important can this phone call have been?  Image courtesy: www.allindiaroundup.com, 20th July, 2016

Defraying risks has been a goal for humans ever since trading began, perhaps even as far back as the Early Bronze Age. The Code of Hammurabi speaks of traders insuring their goods in ancient Babylon. As trade and human civilizations grew more complex, so did insurance.[1] Today, you can insure almost anything.

When I took the driving test for my LMV licence I was quite nonchalant, having driven a two-wheeler for about two years before and schooled in road rules by the extended family, mostly in the form of asides when other road users behaved badly, “Idiot! Pulling into traffic without looking, without signalling! What is this country coming to?”. At the RTO, for the driving test, I remember being packed into a Maruti 800 with five other 18-year-old women and the Motor Vehicles Inspector.

In an age where progressive urban cities serve as a measure of national growth, it is easy to be carried away by several ambitious and pro-western urban projects. The central and state governments are pushing for advancement in the form of smart cities and various other technological upgrades.

For too long now, we have been treating the seat belt as if it were a vestigial organ. Confused? A vestigial organ is a rudimentary body part that is not really functional. So high is our disregard for this life saving device, that when our cars have their yearly check over, obliging mechanics neatly tuck away and put under seat covers, this appendage that we’d rather not be dealing with.

Image courtesy: afrycze

Image courtesy: www.thebetterindia.com

Image courtesy: European Transport Safety Council

In the rat race that is the urban lifestyle, we constantly have our foot on the accelerator, trying to get from point A to B in impossibly short times. Small gap in traffic opens in front of us and the instinct is to floor it and close the gap. God forbid someone else reacts quicker, sneaks in, and gets ahead of us! And then there are those situations when the intersection is several 100m ahead and the light turns green.

I have been driving a bike since 2012, and often see two-wheeler accidents. This caused me to look at the data to understand why two-wheeler involvement in accidents was so high, especially as I was two-wheeler rider.