Helmet or Mudguard – A Rainy Ride That Made Me Think

 

What’s more important on a bike – the helmet or the mudguard?

Is this just a simple comparison, or a system failure?

A Rainy Ride That Sparked a Thought

It was a rainy day. I was riding back home from the office. The rain had stopped, but the roads were still filled with water. Vehicles of all kinds — bikes, cars, trucks — were splashing through the puddles. And I noticed something that made me think: most of the bikes didn’t have proper mudguards.

Helmet or Mudguard — What’s More Important?

That triggered a memory. I thought about the traffic police we see every morning checking vehicles. For bikes, the helmet is the first thing they focus on. For trucks and load vehicles, I’m not exactly sure what they check — but seeing the way many of them carry loads unsafely, I wonder if those checks are even useful. But that’s another story.

Back to bikes. The question popped into my mind — which is more important, the helmet or the mudguard?

Now, don’t get me wrong. The helmet is important — it’s about the rider’s safety. But then I thought, isn’t the mudguard equally, if not more, important? Not for the rider, but for everyone else on the road. If your bike doesn’t have a mudguard, it may not affect you much — but the water and dirt it splashes hits everyone behind you. That’s discomfort, or even danger, caused to others because of your negligence. So in that sense, isn't that more dangerous than not wearing a helmet?

Because when you become the reason for someone else’s discomfort — that’s when the real problem begins.

Thinking Beyond Just Traffic. Is It a System Failure?

And then the thought went deeper. I started seeing this mindset reflected everywhere.

Look at our system. Look at the way society is structured now. From school to media to politics — everything teaches us to look out for ourselves first. “You come first. Others are secondary.” That’s the ideology being pushed.

But I believe it should be the other way around. Your actions should first make sure they don’t trouble others. Then think about yourself. If what you do causes even a little pain or disturbance to someone else, it’s your responsibility to fix it — not theirs.

Take this further. Think about caste. If it's just a belief in your head and you keep it to yourself, fine. But the moment it affects others — in how you treat them, talk to them, or exclude them — then it's not just a thought, it’s a crime. The same goes for religion, relationships, and even love or work.

And this includes the serious issues too — the problems women face in society, the rape cases we hear about, the discrimination and the silence. All of this, somewhere, comes down to this same idea: “I come first. Others don't matter.” That ideology is where the damage begins.

The Real Takeaway

So what did I take away from that rainy ride?

If anything you do is just for yourself and doesn't affect others — that’s okay. But the moment it causes discomfort or harm to someone else — even in the smallest way — you need to stop and fix it.

So now tell me —
Which is more important: the Helmet or the Mudguard?