While on the road, and seeing a motorbike, it is more common than anything to see women riding pillion on motorbikes, not astride, but sitting sideways with their legs dangling to one side.
This “side-saddle” posture is often dismissed as a mere cultural quirk, but the reality is far more complex. The habit traces back centuries, rooted in clothing styles, modesty norms, and social expectations about femininity.
Almost every Asian woman has at one point or another been told by, quite often, a female family member or relative, to keep their legs closed, to not sit with legs spread or while riding a bike, to sit sideways rather than in the straddle position.
However, this “side-saddle” posture that is often dismissed as a mere cultural quirk is actually far more complex. The habit traces back centuries, rooted in clothing styles, modesty norms, and social expectations about femininity.
Why Do Women Sit Sideways On Motorbikes?
According to reports, the side-saddle position on motorbikes actually started centuries ago when horse riding was a prominent form of transportation.
Women across the world were not just encouraged but told to sit side-saddle as riding it astride was considered unbecoming of a woman, or her ‘trying to be like a man’.
Historically, in many parts of the world, from Europe to Asia, women riding as passengers on two-wheelers with both legs on the same side was due to prevailing modesty standards.
Another reason was that the outfits females wore made it difficult for them to straddle a bike seat, and sitting sideways was easier. Whether it be the long dresses and skirts in the West, or sarees in India, the garments of women were used as a way to encourage them to sit side-saddle.
When motorbikes and scooters became common, these long-entrenched norms shaped how women adopted pillion seating. As per reports, even when the original reason (skirts or sarees) might no longer apply, many women continue to sit sideways simply out of habit, a cultural default more than a conscious choice.
Moreover, the impulse to maintain modesty, “feminine” poise, and social respectability continues to influence posture choices even when attire has changed. Some women reportedly sit sideways automatically, regardless of wearing pants or jeans, a sign of how deeply the norm is ingrained.
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This is not an India-only issue, though; many countries, specifically South or South-East Asian countries, still frown at women sitting in the regular straddle position while riding a bike.
In fact, in 2013, reports came out about how Aceh, a province in Indonesia’s was trying to get a law approved that would ban female passengers from straddling motorbikes.
Suaidi Yahya, the former mayor of Lhokseumawe, said that this was to save the “morals and behaviours” of people and how “When you see a woman straddle, she looks like a man. But if she sits side-saddle, she looks like a woman.”
According to a 2013 BBC report, “Under the new regulation, the mayor says that women passengers are only allowed to sit ‘side-saddle’ because straddling the bike seat violates Islamic values.”
It has also been stated time and again that sitting side-straddle on a two-wheeler is very unsafe for not just the pillion rider but the driver themself. A 2018 report by Deccan Chronicle claimed that “Women pillion riders are more prone to accidents.”
Dheerendra Samineni, a road safety expert, said that “According to the vehicle dynamics, we consider a two-wheeler as an unbalanced vehicle, unlike a car, which is a balanced vehicle. The risk factor of the pillion rider is more in these types of accidents. We have to not only balance ourselves but also the two-wheeler.
Mostly women sit facing sideways and it is difficult for the rider to balance. Especially during turning, jerks, rapid acceleration and rapid deceleration, the woman pillion rider who is sitting facing sideways is more vulnerable and more likely to fall down.”
Then Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City, Anjani Kumar also commented on this saying, “Specifically in the road accidents involving two-wheelers, the women are the victims as they are riding pillion and when the vehicle on which they are travelling suddenly stops or collides with another vehicle, they slip down and are run over by the vehicle coming from the other direction.”
A 2022 peer-reviewed study titled “A Study on Pillion Rider Fatalities in Motorised Two-Wheeler Road Traffic Accidents”, published in the Journal of Indian Academic Forensic Medicine, also touched upon this.
The study claimed that most of the road traffic accidents involve “riders and pillion riders of motorised two-wheelers”.
Furthermore, the study found a pattern: “Most of the pillion decedents were females, accounting for 44 (60.27%) cases,” and “Sidesaddle was the preferred seating position in 44 (60.27%) cases, of which 43 were female.”
The reason for this was found to be sudden braking and the side-saddle position, leaving the pillion rider in a vulnerable position. The study stated, “Many of the cases were due to a sudden brake applied by the rider, putting the side saddle rider in a vulnerable position as they cannot grip anything to prevent/break their fall, causing fatalities.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Guardian, Times of India, News18
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Motorbikes, Motorbikes women, women, indian women, indian women Motorbikes female pillion riders, female pillion riders, pillion riders, side-saddle position, women sit sideways motorbikes, side saddle seating, modesty, indian women modesty
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