BENGALURU: No more dilly-dallying. Helmets are mandatory for pillion-riders in less than two weeks.
Safety headgear is already mandatory for two-wheeler riders in the city. The Transport Department took the decision to implement the rule after receiving a letter from the Supreme Court’s Road Safety Committee.
The letter came on December 28, following which senior officials met and took the decision. A gazette notification was passed on December 31.
“We wanted to implement the rule, but had run into a lot of resistance from the public. That is when we invited objections,” Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda said.
The department received mixed reactions, and finally decided in favour of helmets for pillion-riders.
Under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, all those on a two-wheeler must wear protective headgear. The law does not exempt anyone on the basis of age, location or gender.
People in North Karnataka have been the most vocal in their opposition to the rule, saying the weather in those parts is too hot, especially during summer, for them to wear helmets. With the Supreme Court ruling that helmets must be worn, there is no question of exempting anyone, a senior official said.
According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 19, 2014, more than 1.25 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. The report suggests that India accounts for more than two lakh such deaths.
M N Srihari, traffic expert and adviser to the state government, said, “This move should be welcomed by the public as it is for their own safety. During accidents involving two-wheelers, the pillion riders are more at risk.”
Why helmets?
Road traffic injuries have become a leading cause of death in low and middle-income countries where rapid economic growth has resulted in increased motorisation. In India, there has been a continuous increase in road crash deaths since 2007, with a brief annual reduction in 2012. National data from 2014 shows the total deaths at 141,526, almost a 3 per cent increase over the previous year, with Bengaluru making it to the list of metropolitan cities for the notoriety of road crash deaths. “A law is not made keeping in mind the convenience of the public, but for a larger cause. Here, it for saving the lives of pillion riders exposed to the threat of death,” Srihari said.
Will Wait Till Demand Rises, say Dealers
Helmet sellers in the city are not about to jump the gun upon the implementation of the compulsory helmet rule for pillion riders.
Iqlakh Hassan of SK Enterprise, a motor accessory dealer, said, “We have been hearing this since last June but no concrete decision has been made till date. We will buy extra stock when the rule is properly enforced.”
Pillion riders in the city too are divided in their opinion on the state government’s decision.
Shruti Ravikumar, a student, said, “My sister and I share a ride to the college. Now, we will have to think of some place where we can keep the extra helmet.”
People fear the rule will give shopkeepers an excuse to raise the prices. Shivendra Raja, a motor vehicle accessories dealer on Lalbagh Road, said, “We are well-stocked and if the rule is implemented, we will order more. The last time there was news about the rule, I ordered extra helmets and then it fell through. We had to sell the helmets off on a discount.”
Shopkeepers also feel without mandating standards, makeshift stalls on pavements will fleece people for helmets of cheap quality.
A senior Transport Department official said the idea is to bring down fatalities. “Once the rule is enforced, we will crack down on riders using helmets that don’t have the ISI mark,” the official said.