Parents to blame for mishaps, says veteran biker

NEW DELHI: On a day of tragedy for former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, whose son died on Friday battling injuries sustained in a superbike accident, Delhi's best known superbiker held parents mainly responsible for mishaps involving youngsters on these mean machines.
"It's a very sad day for the family and the biking community," said Dr Arun Thareja, 50, a surgeon known in biking circles as 'Dr Speed'. "But I would blame the parents for such mishaps." Thareja said, in most cases, parents give these high-speed motorcycles to their kids without as much as ensuring they have proper training and the gear to handle these speed demons. "Ayazuddin (Azhar's son) wasn't even dressed properly for the ride. In most cases, the kids are after their life and so the parents just dump these machines on them. More often than not, there is no restraint on how these bikes are used," said the man who has been riding superbikes since 1984. Thareja is the founder of GODS (Group Of Delhi Superbikers), a club of about 50-odd high-end bikers. He said the club did not entertain membership requests from bikers below 25 years of age. "These machines require a fair bit of maturity to be ridden safely," he said.
Thareja, who heads a surgery unit in Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, said the time had come for the government to consider having a special driving licence for superbikes. There should be strict licencing criteria for being able to ride these machines, he said.
"I was speaking to bikemakers Suzuki and they said they wanted to train clients buying these big bikes but there is no place for such training. Perhaps the F1 GP track coming up at Greater Noida could be a venue in the future for manufacturers to impart basic training to buyers," the doctor said.
Thareja himself owns five superbikes, including a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12 R and a HondaFireblade. "It's a passion. Most members of our club love their bikes too much to think about abusing these machines. We mostly ride in groups in early mornings, with a leader and a sweeper controlling the speed."
Prospective members are screened for their mental make-up and experience before being let into the club. "The group usually meets an applicant to assess his temperament and abilities. For us, maturity in handling the bikes is of key importance," Thareja says.