This is why in our line of work we are very sceptical and wary of things that originate from the inverted triangular sub-continent...
My memory is telling me, pictures of a similar set up in China have been posted a while back, where racks of helmet shells are shown being stored outside, open to the elements. I’m guessing the helmets manufactured in the link are destined for their domestic market, in the main, 100s of 1,000,000s of small capacity bike riders, earning £3 or £4 pounds (equivalent) a month who can’t afford to buy “proper” kit. Pretty sure there was a “scandal” a number of years ago about imported, cheap helmets that hadn’t been tested to EU/UK safety standards, flooding the European market place. I see eBay is still awash with “genuine” RAC/ACU helmet stickers, https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313. Andy
Back in about 2005/6 they made wearing helmets mandatory, previously it had only been necessary if you were travelling on roads outside of cities. Within weeks the market was flooded by cheap plastics helmets, all carrying various 'certifications'. Thankfully the authorities clamped down on that fairly quickly, but there are still large numbers of sub-standard helmets available and there is no contour over the online platforms such as eBay, alibuy, etc. ln many cases people wear helmets only to avoid being stopped and fined. When you only earn $100 or $200 a month there are other priorities at play. Sad, but so it goes.
Surely a crap helmet the rider can afford is still safer than nothing at all considering the low speeds involved.
Probably. Maybe our ‘unsafe to use after 5 years’ helmets should be re-used over there instead of going to land fill or gathering dust. Think I would rather be wearing an ancient Shoei/Arai/AGV/whatever than one of them.
Attitudes are different though, they believe in fate, that their day to die etc is set from birth, so it doesn't matter if you ride naked or in a bubble, if it's your day to get injured or die then it's simply your day.
This ^. When in India many years ago and on a bus from Chandigarh to Manali in the Himalayan foothills, the driver stopped off early in the day at a temple to pray for a good, safe journey. This was seen by him as divine clearance to drive with a complete disregard for anything close to safe/reasonable. A pretty terrifying white knuckle experience made more so by the numerous wrecked vehicles, including buses, littering the side of the road.
Yes and no. There are some very inexpensive 'helmets' (around $ 20) available here that will offer some degree of protection if you are travelling at 20 km/h or 30 km/h, but most are just rubbish which shatter on impact. In fact I have seen more than one disintegrate when dropped from a moving bike. Can't really tell about what is shown being manufactured in the video in the original post...
