97% of helmets sold in Karachi are low-quality, useless in saving from head injuries

KARACHI: A motorcyclist in Karachi may escape a police challan by wearing a helmet, but there is little guarantee they can avoid a head injury.

According to the Road Traffic Injury Research & Prevention Centre, only 30 percent of motorcyclists in the city wear helmets. The figure for certified safety helmets is even lower—three percent—informed Muhammad Sabir Shaikh, Chairman of Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers This implies that about 0.6 million people in Karachi are prone to serious injuries due to using low-quality helmets.

According to Shaikh, 97% of helmets being sold in various helmet shops are of low quality. “Only few sellers have certified, high quality helmets.”

Shaikh said that these helmets are easily available in the market being cheap, with prices ranging between Rs400 to Rs1,200 only. Quality of local as well as cheap, imported ones are below par, so much so that they can be “bended with hands”.

“Such helmets are unlikely to keep a motorcyclist travelling at, say, 70 Kilometres per hour, safe,” he warned.

Zakir, a helmet seller from Akber Road, said that most buyers opt for a low-quality helmet just so that they can avoid a police challan.

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