No Helmet, No Travel

A quote from Joseph Conrad - "the real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind" - may be relevant to what I noticed earlier.

I passed by the headquarters of the Western Police District at the corner of UN Avenue and San Marcelino this morning. I noticed a lot of scooters and motorcycles parked on the sidewalk and a large clearly-visible sign on the fence: NO HELMET, NO TRAVEL.

I really don't know how long that sign has been there but I suppose it is intended for members of the police force who ride those parked bikes. In fact, I suddenly saw two men in police uniform wheeze by wearing their safety gears.

Think about this: why was this sign even necessary? The sight of police officers apprehending motorcycle riders who are not wearing helmets is a day to day occurence in many places. This means that these police officers must have a firm basis for apprehending riders without safety helmets. Fine.

On the other hand, it is not really uncommon to spot uniformed police officers riding bikes wearing no helmets except the service weapons on their waist and the metal badge on their chest pocket as proof of "authority", beyond the grip of the law. Until this very day.

Maybe these police officers are not from the Western Police District. Maybe the requirement to wear a helmet does not apply to these police officers, as many other traffic rules don't. Maybe the guy who runs the Western Police District is no ordinary guy. Is he Police General Boysie Rosales who really means business?

The next time I see a uniformed police officer riding without a helmet I should probably remind him about the sign at WPD. If I ever muster the guts.