3Rs - Random Reading & 'Riting - 14 / Safety

 Ramesh Kumar from Greater Noida                    

"Why seat belt? Just 500 meters away from home!" sniggered Betterhalf as she climbed into Duster after picking up some stuff at Daily Need, the neighborhood provision shop. 

Mishaps can happen anytime, anywhere, I wanted to tell but kept quiet. She knew I won't move till she buckles up. Just not safety precaution but also to prevent the possibility of incessant warning sound from the car. No belt, it will beep. Improperly closed doors, it will beep. Ear pain!

July 2018. Early morning and Day 1 of Road Safety Walkthaon from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with Subbu of Hell India at the lead and Ramashankar Pandey. Subbu would walk the entire 3000 odd km over the next 50 days. Pandey would join at many venues en route. I joined this road safety awareness campaign along with Hari Kaushik of Air Force, a Road Safety warrior. up to Goa over the first fortnight.

A few kilometers on the bright sunny day with Kaushik as a companion, we met several riders of two-wheelers without helmets and car drivers, not seat-belted. When queried, the stock reply: we are not on a long trip. One or two kilometers. Not unsafe. What logic!

Raghuram Sharma, Head of Driver Training at TransportMitra, never miss a chance to pose this question to his temporary students - long haul truck drivers - at transport hubs where he conducts smart driver programs: "Do you receive SMS (text messages) on your mobile/handset before accidents?.... No, nah?" 

Seat belt wearing when one drives has to become a habit. It has to become one's DNA. It is not happening in India. Strict enforcement of legal provisions is the only remedy. No amount of awareness or cajoling is working. Remember the Commonwealth Games 2010 held in New Delhi? Lanes were earmarked for athletes participating and for the Games vehicle movement throughout Delhi roads. Violators were penalized hefty. Strict compliance and the result was good.  Post Games, back to old habits: violation of rules. 

I used to get into a verbal duel with my daughter whenever she was at the wheels in India because she never cared to wear a seat belt and paid multiple penalties over time. The same person, now in the United States, is a changed personality. She wears the belt first before igniting the car! Why? Not out of love for personal safety, but the fear of coughing penalty. Strict compliance, that is. Habits changed. 

Talking about habits, one cannot miss the classic Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do and how to change", published in 2012. If you have not bought the book, it is okay. Google "The Ballad of Paul O.Neill" to read his maiden speech to his shareholders or check out Youtube. The whole thrust is on "Keystone habits". I have chosen this chapter out of the 370 odd pages book because he has turned around Alcoa's fortune with a single-minded focus on safety at the workplace.

Wearing personal protective gear has to be automatic. Helmets and seat belts are good for the wearer alone. For the entire society. Check out the GDP loss due to accidents and it is astonishing to know the quantum of loss. 

In this Covid time, mask-wearing assumes the same importance. This act of covering one's mouth and the nose goes beyond saving one's life. No amount of monetary compensation can replace the real worth of human lives. Many mistake their insurance amount as their life's value. Wrong. The insured amount reflects one's ability to pay a premium. Such basic understanding is missing.