CHENNAI: A news doing the rounds on Whatsapp says the choice of wearing a helmet is left completely to the discretion of the public and that the police would not be able to slap a fine on anyone for not doing so.“If the police ask you to pay a fine for not wearing a helmet, call 8344606680,” the message reads.
Do as the message says and you will probably be waving goodbye to your motorbike in the next few minutes.Not only is wearing helmet mandatory, not doing so will allow the police to seize your vehicle following which you may have to produce the receipt for the helmet and a fine in court to regain possession of the vehicle.
If you trust the message and proceed to call the number, tactfully saved ‘helmet’ on Truecaller, the caller identification app, and has been reported ‘spam’ by 55 people, it is highly likely that you will not get a response. When Express called the number, we received an ‘all incoming calls barred’ message.
However, what you may get is an angry police officer giving you the death stare for your sorry attempts to reach the number.Listen to us, get your helmets on.