Okada helmet law

January 1 the law here was changed to require commercial motorcycle (okada) drivers and passengers to wear helmets. Last saturday while out and about I observed almost universal compliance (although some of the helmets were decidedly makeshift). The deterent value of confiscating the bike for violating this law is apparently quite strong. Since for most of the drivers the okada is their sole source of income I can see the motivation. Maybe it will save some lives.

To my oyibo mind the thing seems simple, require helmets and save lives. But there's always more to it that I will never grasp. It seems wearing a helmet can expose you to unseen risks. The okada drivers are well known for their evil and devious ways and may take advantage of this new requirement to the riders detriment. My neighbor's driver related how in two separate cases there had been juju placed inside the helmet that made the passenger vanish when she placed it on her head. Government officals are trying to squash these stories by pointing out that in other countries where helmets are required there have been no increase in vanishings.

It seems this story in various versions has been around for quite a while. I like the twist where the driver vanished. I'm not making this stuff up.

In the unrelated to anything department, the friday Moslem religious column in a local paper suggests prayer as a way out of the ongoing electrical power crisis. Well, why not? Nothing else has worked. Pray for power.

Hard rain this morning, unusual at this time of year. Had been out on my bike, but when the wind shifts 180 degrees and that line of black clouds develops wispy trailers beneath, I've learned to get inside. And I just made it, started pouring within minutes of reaching home. Good thunder and lightning too.