COIMBATORE: The quality of helmets has come under police lens after three bikers died of head injuries recently despite wearing helmets. Police suspect the helmets worn by the deceased were of poor quality and are focussing on shops selling helmets in the city.
According to sources in the Coimbatore City police, samples of the broken helmet collected from the accident spot were sent to the Indian Standards Institute in Chennai for analysis, as they had ISI standards-compliance marks.
“In every road accident, we study the causes and steps to prevent it from repeating. A study of three recent road accident fatalities that happened near the Saravanampatti, Neelambur and L&T bypass, confirmed that all victims were wearing helmets. However, their helmets broke on impact during the accident and they died of head injuries,” said M Rajarajan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Coimbatore city.
During the investigation, police found the helmets had quality certificate ISI standard stickers.
“It is surprising that they broke and led to the causalities despite having the ISI certification. So we have recommended the helmet parts be analysed by the certification body. The analysis will reveal if they are original helmets or duplicate products. We can easily know the details about its product by the ISI certification number on it. If the helmets are duplicates, we will take action against the shop that sold them. If it is original, we can question the firm that manufactured the head gears and why it broke during the collision,” Rajarajan added.
K Murugesan, an authorized helmet seller in the city said “Before bringing helmets for sale, manufacturers would conduct some basic safety tests. Based on the test results ISI gives the certification. Defective quality can pose a threat to users. Similarly, there are service stations in the city that renew the inner foam of old helmets. Police should investigate whether any substandard materials are being used,” said Murugesan. “Many people are selling poor quality helmets at cheap rates, Action should be taken if anyone sells helmets with poor quality branding with ISI standards, Murugesan added.