Kochi: When she saw the traffic thinning on the busy Edapally-Vytilla bypass road, Megha Dinsha, 30, tried to cross over to the other side. But just as she was doing so, a speeding ‘super bike’ ran into her and knocked her down unconscious.

She suffered a serious head injury and was rushed to the hospital. She was also eight months pregnant, and while an immediate surgery saved the baby, Megha is still in a coma unaware even that she has given birth.

Similarly, Shahudhul Muhammed, a migrant worker was knocked down in the residential-cum-commercial area of Panampilly Nagar by a super bike, shattering his dreams of making a living as an embroidery worker. Having lost his eye sight and with a paralysed arm, Shahadhul returned to his native Howrah.

The incidents are many of reckless bikers zipping through the streets of Kochi, unmindful of the havoc they wreck on others. The killer bikes that cost anything between Rs 4 and 30 lakh come with a powerful engine and a revamped design sans shock absorbers, headlights, silencers and filters.

But Kochiites can now heave a sigh of relief with authorities deciding to put a strict curb on the buying and selling of super bikes. They have even prohibited the riding of these by anyone other than the owners themselves. Remodelled bikes will be confiscated and inspections will be held at spare parts shops that deal in the remodelling of super bikes.