Where there's a will...
...there's a brain injury...
Motorcyclists in Nigeria have been wearing dried pumpkin shells on their heads to dodge new laws forcing them to wear helmets, authorities have said.Of course, folks are fighting back using the lesser known... in first world countries, anyway... "bad juju" defense.
Officials in the northern city of Kano said they had stopped several people with "improvised helmets" following this month's introduction of the law.
Road safety officials said calabash-wearers would be prosecuted.
The thing is, there's a larger, "socio-political engineering" issue here...
Local government authorities often give motorbikes to jobless young men, saying it gives them a way to make a living.Good grief... who could've possibly seen that coming?
But the BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says handing out the vehicles does not address the underlying cause of Nigeria's economic problems. It is often an attempt to buy support for elections, our correspondent says.
Often untrained and illiterate, the drivers are considered a menace by many motorists. Fatal accidents are common. Road safety authorities say almost every collision in Nigeria's cities involves an okada.
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Instead of Motorcycles the government should give them each a Helicopter!"*


14 comments:
These paragraphs made me laugh:
"Stories have also appeared in the local papers highlighting passengers' fears that the helmets could be used by motorcyclists to cast spells on their clients, making it easy for them to be robbed.
"Some people can put juju inside the helmets and when they are worn the victim can either lose consciousness or be struck dumb," passenger Kolawole Aremu told the Daily Trust newspaper."
Silly black people huh Neo?
Silly government weenies who think a helmet law is going to reduce head injuries among untrained, illiterate motorcycle drivers with no money.
Oh wait... the government weenies in Nigeria are black, aren't they?
RACIST!!!! The Phantom is RACIST!!!!!
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"cc-nonymous says... Silly black people huh"
oh boy... he's back yet again to smear his race-baiting feces on the wall.
see nonny... you didn't read this one and say, "silly white people"... or complain about cupe's anti-semitism.
or hey, maybe you can point us to your "letter to the editor" at the bbc... where the story was published.
No?
funny how that works.
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Actually that's pretty clever if you don't happen to have a helmet. It's also better than nothing isn't it?
No. The Phantom is a psychopath lawyer from Calgary. I even know your real name.
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"chris in mb asks... It's also better than nothing isn't it?"
well, ol' hoss... as someone who has actually parted ways with a motorcycle at speed... in a word... "NO".
oh yeah... the "bad juju" thing... that probably doesn't work either.
but thanks for playing.
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Instead of Motorcycles the government should give them each a Helicopter!
"as someone who has actually parted ways with a motorcycle at speed... in a word... "NO""
but wouldn't that really depend on the type of pumpkin, melon, or gourd used? ;)
That would make an entertaining Mythbusters show theme eh?
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"chris in mb asks... but wouldn't that really depend on the type of pumpkin, melon, or gourd used? ;)"
well, far be it from me to disparage a true seeker of knowledge.
now... you probably aren't gonna find too many people willing to offer up their motorcycles... or their heads... in the name of science here... but you could try putting on a gourd jockstrap and let someone take a swing at your "wedding tackle" with a hockey stick.
and chris... let us know how that works out, okay?
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Somebody take the troll's "cycle" away? Juju for you lefticle.
So..how is this different than all those Harley bikers in the USA wearing useless plastic "beanie" helmets in helmet law states?
Stupid white trash!
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"sarge asks... how is this different"
hmmm... we could sit here and count the ways... but let's just go with the big one... the canadian government doesn't give away harley-davidsons and turn bikers loose on the public as a crime-control policy.
but you're right about one thing... they are a blight on society.
i say we give them a helmet law exemption.
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Helmets (so research shows) make drivers feel more secure so that they increase speed and have more, and more serious accidents. Maybe the government is trying to kill them off. Not so crazy?
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