All in good fun – Sachin Tendulkar telling all kinds of crazy people to wear helmets [Video]

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has been in the news lately for advising two wheeler riders to wear helmets.  Tendulkar’s been insisting that both rider and pillion wear helmets for their own safety, and that it’s not enough for just the rider to wear a helmet. Someone’s just made a funny video of Sachin asking all and sundry to wear helmets. Here it is.

The helmet is the first line of safety for two wheeler riders, especially in a country like India where accidents kill lakhs of people every year. What Sachin says makes absolute sense as both the rider and pillion are at equal risk on a two wheeler. It’s important that both of them wear helmets at all times even if speeds are low. Apart from helmets, two wheeler riders are advised to wear protecting riding gear such as gloves, kneepads and riding jackets.

Meanwhile, there has been some indirect criticism of Sachin Tendulkar’s push to make both the two wheeler rider and pillion wear helmets. While advising riders and pillions to wear helmets, Mr. Tendulkar himself wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. He was sitting on the rear seat of a luxury car, said to be a BMW 7-Series.

It’s absolutely vital for all occupants of a car to wear seatbelts. Like a helmet for a two wheeler rider, the seatbelt is the first layer of safety for a car occupant. Seatbelts restrain occupants from being thrown around, or out of the car in case of an accident. Seatbelts – when worn – have saved countless lives all over the world.

A seatbelt is a must even on a car that has airbags. In many cars, airbags are designed to inflate only when a seatbelt is worn. This is because inflating airbags (which contain hot explosive gases) can cause severe injuries to passengers who don’t wear seatbelts.