HELMETS A MUST
Antonio Pinto, Benaulim.

I AM NOT a two-wheeler owner or rider but own a full-face helmet with visor for the occasions when I become a pillion passenger. The following are my observations/replies to those opposed to the use of helmets:

I am bald and my hair loss began long before I even purchased a helmet. Baldness in men is fairly common even for those who have never sat on a motorcycle. I have seen countless women two-wheeler riders and pillion passengers abroad where it is compulsory to wear helmets but have never come across balding females among them. I find the helmet very comfortable. It keeps my head cool when travelling during the oppressive heat of March to June, and warm when riding at night when otherwise I would be cowering behind the rider for shelter from the cold slipstream.

If it rains, even a light drizzle, I can see straight ahead with both eyes open and not feel the sting of rain droplets against the face, in contrast observe the two wheeler riders who do not wear helmets with visors. They ride with face turned to one side, one eye closed, the other partly closed and his view of the road is through a narrow slit in his face.

As I have never been involved in an accident while riding pillion I cannot personally comment on whether the helmet would have saved my life had I landed on my head, however I take full heed of the statistics regarding accidents and deaths owing to head injuries of non-helmeted riders/pillion passengers, and that almost everywhere in the world the wearing of helmets is obligatory, the rule being made law only after extensive study of safety aspects, accidents, injuries and fatalities.

The Government of Goa must implement Sect. 129 of the M.V. Act, wearing of protective headgear, in toto and not succumb to the idle threats of a few irresponsible and unruly individuals.

NOT BHAILO!
Ashok N P Dessai, Panaji.

UPON BRINGING TO my notice by a few of my friends I have perused your article ( “Crucifying bhaile”, Goan Observer, July 24 - 30, 2004) wherein you have inter-alia stated “Ashok Dessai” is a bhailo”

It may also be recalled that while you were working with the Herald, in one of your “Stray Thoughts”, you had stated, inter-alia, that I was posted as the Chief Officer of the Panjim Municipal Council and was transferred due to my inefficiency.

I would like to bring to your notice that both of your above statements are absolutely wrong and caused me avoidable mental agony. To set the records right, I would like to inform you that I am very much a Goan, born, brought up and educated in Goa.

I have an ancestral house in the village Parsem, in Pernem Taluka which was built somewhere in the year 1650.

I was also never posted as the Chief Officer of Panjim Municipal Council. I would request you kindly to verify personal information before putting it up on record since such wrong information causes damage and mental agony.

Editor's Note: We stand corrected. Please accept our apologies.

CONTROL RECKLESS DRIVING
Aires Rodrigues, Motorcycle Action Group (MAG).

THE POLICE AND transport department authorities immediately have to take serious action against reckless driving and over speeding in order to lower the alarming accident rate and in turn the fatal deaths on Goan roads.

The periodic attempts to rake up the helmet issue has nothing to do with road safety but is a ploy at the instance of some police and transport department officials for monetary gains in connivance with the helmet manufacturer’s lobby.

The authorities should not take two-wheeler riders for granted as any attempt to make helmets compulsory without first genuinely tackling the known root causes of accidents would be strongly and unitedly opposed by two-wheeler riders across Goa. 

Making helmets compulsory by itself will not minimise the number of deaths and people will continue to die regardless of whether they were a helmet or not as long as the government does not take some genuine concrete steps to deal with the root causes of accidents.

The authorities have failed to clear the roads of stray cattle and dogs and stop drunken driving which are a cause for many accidents and so many deaths and helmets are only an added protection, which could be of help as long as the government first tackles the grave road safety hazards.

If the government is really interested in road safety the first step should be to end the rampant corruption in the police and transport departments and to turning a blind eye to reckless traffic violations by four wheelers, especially the rash and negligent buses and trucks which are the cause of major deaths on roads.

The Motor Vehicles Act is a Central Act and the State Government is empowered to make relevant exemptions as to the use of helmets

 It is hoped that Goa’s new DGP Amod Kanth would work in conjunction with MAG in
resolving the helmet issue once and for all.

MOMENT OF TRUTH
Vasco da Gama, Verna.

DR. FRANCISCO COLACO'S article “Moment of Truth” (Goan Observer, July 17-23, 2004), tugged at the heart strings of those who actually experienced Goa’s passage to liberation on December 19, 1961. With hope in their hearts, Goans of that era looked forward to a liberated Goa which would progress and evolve into an entity that would see Goans come into their own, after centuries of Portuguese domination.

Most of us who happened to be around during that period remember with nostalgia the Goa that Dr. Colaco so sensitively evokes in his article where we were all taught to respect and love our neighbours. A Goa where “Catholics, Hindus and Muslims all lived and walked like brothers” with a strong sense of unity and community. I also agree with Dr. Colaco that there were a few Goans, who ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds – swearing fealty to the Portuguese and then smoothly transferring loyalty to the Indian liberators.

However, it is a debatable point whether Dr. A. A. Bruto da Costa was actually “vibrating in unison with Nehru’s India” as implied by Dr. Colaco. In this respect, I would invite Dr. Colaco to please refer to Dr. Bruto da Costa’s letter dated August 15 th , 1962, addressed to “Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of the Union of India” (available on website http://www.goancauses.com/letterbruto.htm ) in which Dr. Bruto da Costa’s has given expression to his inner sentiments and vision for Goa .

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