India is a country where the majority of people commute daily on motorcycles and scooters more than in cars. It is a common sight to see Indian men and women riding on their two-wheelers with their family members, and in some instances, we have also seen an entire family of four or five people riding on a single two-wheeler. One of the most common sights is a man riding a two-wheeler with his child seated behind him. This is one such incident that has become viral on the Internet.
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In a ‘superhero’ moment, a man from North India got filmed riding a Honda Activa on the roads of Chandigarh with his son sitting behind him. What caught everyone’s attention was the way this man was riding his Activa – while he was riding the scooter with his right hand, he was holding his son sitting behind him with his left hand wrapped around him. In the picture, it seems that the child was asleep while his father was riding the scooter.
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Is it safe?
The video of this man riding his scooter while holding his sleepy child sitting behind with one hand went viral on social media platforms and is being seen as a prime example of a father ensuring the safety of his child. Many netizens are praising the way the father was taking care of the safety of his child in an unavoidable condition. While some people praised the spirit of fatherhood shown by the Activa rider, some also said that fathers are the superheroes of the real world.
However, this video of the Activa rider riding the scooter with one hand and grabbing his son by the other hand shows another side of the story too. While the man should be praised for showcasing the true spirit of fatherhood, it was quite risky on the man’s part to ride with a sleepy kid on a pillion seat, who was also not wearing a helmet while sitting as a pillion rider.
The father should have followed an even safer approach by making his son wear a helmet while he was sitting behind him. It is not only a moral responsibility but also a practice which is compulsory in the books of law. We request all our readers to wear a helmet in both the situations of riding or sitting as a pillion while being on a two-wheeler.
Govt wants to make harness mandatory
In 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a notification and said that the new rules will ensure the safe travelling of children on the two-wheelers. The government will introduce a law that will make safety harnesses mandatory for children. The safety harness will be attached from the rider to the child.
The safety harness will be a vest that will be worn by the child. It is adjustable with a pair of straps attached to the vest that forms loops for the rider to slip his arms through. With the safety harness, the upper torso of the rider will be securely attached to the rider and will reduce mishaps on the roads.
However, the government is yet to finalise the harness system and even the police forces across the country are yet to implement the new notifications.
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