The increasing number of casualties by road accidents in India has alarmed the government as well as the several NGOs and the general public. Few major contributing factors responsible for this are the negligence of road safety rules, rash driving, increasing number of vehicles on our road as well as several other smaller things that go unnoticed. Almost everyone in India has at least one kin who passed away or was gravely injured in road accidents which sort of paints a clear picture of the grave situation. Hafiz Sajeev, a 19-year-old guy from Kochi, Kerala is trying to make a difference and spread awareness about road safety and traffic rules using his camera.
Hafiz uses his camera to paint moments with light that show how even simple mistakes can take a drastic turn on the road, leading to casualties. The image above is a staged image, published on Facebook page Thrikkannan (The three eyed one). Ironically, it beautifully portrays a rather tragic scene and shows how even a simple mistake can result in life threatening consequences.
In the above image, we see a young girl who was riding pillion on a bike in a very tragic situation. During their ride, a piece of loose apparel (like a chawl, or chunni) worn by her gets stuck in the rear tire and she’ is being dragged down from the bike. We have all heard of this happening, everywhere in the country. This could result in serious injuries and many victims of such incidents have succumbed to their injuries. For the same, bike manufacturers provide a saree guard as standard fitment on their bikes or offer it as an accessory. Many people, however, don’t buy them or if factory equipped, get them removed in order to make their bike look cooler. However, it is not advisable to do one should keep saree guards attached on their bikes, especially so if they have regular female pillion riders. Women are also advised to set their apparels like sarees etc in such a way that it remains close to the body and does not sway in the air.
The second image here shows another incident that is quite common on our roads. Many two-wheeler riders have had a brush with death due car drivers suddenly opening the car doors. This is a very unlucky situation for both the bike rider and the car driver, but can be averted by simply following the Dutch reach technique. In this technique, one always opens the door from the hand which is on the opposite side of the door. Doing so results in the torso being turned towards the door, which enables one to see the road behind him and hence, not open the door if anything is approaching close. It is quite a simple habit and comes into the routine quite quickly once you practice it for a couple of times.
The Dutch reach technique can avert accidents and save many lives and is also a very simple habit to follow. Further, the bikers are advised to ride a bit away from side parked cars if that’s an option. As it is said, it is always wise to be on the safer side in the first place.
Talking about Hafiz, he uses a mid-entry level DSLR, Nikon D5300, for shooting these awareness pictures and videos. The models in these pictures are his male friend Anas and sister Hasna. Hafiz honed his photography skills by watching Youtube tutorials along with learning several tricks from the same. He is currently learning VFX and plans to take this cause further up. You can connect with him on Instagram and Facebook by clicking on the links here. A hat’s tip to Hafiz Sajeev from our team and we wish him luck for his future endeavours.
RIDE SAFE! DRIVE SAFE! Remember, Home is one’s final destination, not the road.
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