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Power bikes burn Goa's road -- Jet, set, go
By Amanda Alphonso
Imagine yourself 'flying' down a road at a speed that causes heads to turn,
wondering what just bolted past them. Well, that has always been every
youngster's dream, a dream that is surely, and not so slowly, turning into a
reality.
Says Swapnil Nachinolkar of Nachinolkar Motors, Panjim, "Zooming around on a
high speed, powerful bikes have always been the trend. This yearning of every
youth has now been finding form with the advent of a number of impressive
looking bikes guaranteed to catch your eye".
Some of the bikes hitting Goan markets this summer include the Kinetic Blaze,
a 165cc Italian designed bike, the TVS Aapache 150 cc, and the Honda Shine and
Suzuki Heat, both 125 cc. These new additions add to the list of already
existing bikes like the Bajaj Pulsar, Avenger, Discover, the Honda Unicorn,
the TVS Victor and the Hero Honda Karizma.
Paresh Naik of Vistar Wheels, Panaji, who claims, "About 70% of our customers
are youth within the age group of 18 to 25 years", endorses the fact that
these bikes have found favour with a vast majority of the youth. This passion
for power and speed among the younger generation is aptly expressed by Elvis
Fernandes, a student, who points out, "bikes below 125 cc are definitely out
and owning a bike above 150 cc has virtually become the order of the day.
While the necessity of a bike cannot be argued about, questions are often
raised about the need for speed, brought on by the possession of such bikes.
Most youth, however, are collective in their opinion that going at mind-
blowing speeds gives them a feeling of euphoria. "High speed bikes give the
rider a thrill as well as the ability to race with other bikes on the road",
voices Reuben D'Mello, a teenager.
Indeed, the ardent desire to compete with fellow bikers at 'breakneck' speed
has witnessed the rise of a number of bike gangs all across the State. What is
alarming is that these races take place in the midst of other vehicular
traffic with competitors wearing absolutely no protective gear, not even a
helmet, thus putting their own lives and the lives of other travellers at
stake.
The problem rests in the fact that riders are liable to lose control at high
speed or due to an unforeseen obstruction and accidents, often fatal, are
inevitable. Statistics from the traffic cell at Altinho-Panjim, show that 1063
bike accidents occurred in Goa in 2005. What is disturbing is that 777
accidents involved riders between 18 to 24 years. So what then are the
measures that can be taken to ensure that other youth do not meet with the
same bitter fate?
Well, it appears that opinions differ widely between all sections of
society. "Our bikes are top notch", emphatically states Paresh Singbal of the
Vasco Bajaj Service Centre. "The responsibility lies with the rider who should
inculcate good riding skills and show some restraint with regard to speed".
Gavin believes that youth is the age to have fun and the threat of over
speeding can only be curbed by the smooth operation of traffic signals and
greater vigilance on the part of the police. Dy Superintendent of Traffic
Police, L S Mamledar states that it is the parents and friends of such youth
who must shoulder the responsibility of controlling the recklessness of these
brash youngstets.
It seems to be a chronic case of all said and little done, for a whopping
49.54% of that occurred in 2005 were the outcome of riders exceeding the speed
limit. The bottom line is that while one cannot deny that the 'guardians of
the road', who work with blinders on, turn a blind eye to rash driving,
equally responsible are the parents who, either to compensate for their
absence, or to be one up on the Jonses', give in to these 'high powered'
demands of their wards.
The crux of the matter therefore, is that while the blame game continues the
lives of these young riders and, more often than not, those of innocent, law
abiding citizens are being lost everyday. (ENDS)
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The above article appeared in the May 15, 2006 edition of the Herald, Goa
Courtesy of: Valmiki Faleiro
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