Chennai: Senthil Ramu, 24, rides his motorbike to work every day but doesn't always wear a helmet. "My office is just 10 minutes away. I forget my helmet at times, but I haven't been caught so far," he says.A majority of Chennaiites don't wear helmets while riding on two wheelers or as pillion riders, don't think children on two-wheelers should wear helmets, don't wear seat-belts and don't take tests to get a licence. Yet they wanted to stricter road rules and stiffer penalities. These are some of the findings of a recent 10-city survey by NGO SaveLIFE Foundation, to assess public perception about road safety in India. Of the 2,166 people interviewed, 216 were from Chennai.The overall findings revealed that 80% of respondents feel unsafe on Indian roads, and were in favour of a stronger road safety law. Respondents from Chennai were for stricter enforcement, yet many admitted to flouting rules such as wearing helmets and seat belts.TOI recently reported that crashes and road fatalities in Tamil Nadu have reduced during the first quarter of 2017, compared to last year. The survey also revealed that Chennaiites generally feel safe on the road, and are confident of receiving emergency services.However, is this reason enough to ignore road safety rules? "Chennai has one of the highest number of road crashes and traffic fatalities among Indian cities," said Shreya Gadepalli, director, South Asia, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. "The highways within the city, that account for a majority of these fatalities, must be redesigned as urban roads with lower speeds by design, frequent intersections and safe opportunities for pedestrian crossing, and space for various local uses, not just high speed traffic," she said. "Such appropriate infrastructure must be complemented by stringent enforcement. Otherwise, people flout the rules," she added.Dr Sunil Shroff from the MOHAN Foundation, an NGO that promotes organ donations, said, "In the UK, there is a camera at every mile, traffic is regulated and accident rates are low," he said. "Across India, 90% of our organ donations come from patients who have sustained head injuries due to traffic accidents. And these are all young people, between 18 to 35 years, and most occur because they haven't worn seat belts, helmets, and due to speeding and overtaking," he added.The state is going all out to curb traffic violations — police and transport department officials have been instructed to suspend licences of traffic offenders for up to six months. Cinema theatres will screen short films, and police recently released a music video on road safety.

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