CHENNAI : Beware! If your kid riding pillion is not wearing a helmet, chances are that he will be booked and fined by traffic police. After the Madras High Court questioned as to why no cases are being booked against pillion riders who do not wear helmets, the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Tamil Nadu, ordered all police units across the State to impose fine on pillion riders who are not wearing helmets.
The order has raised many questions like whether children will be exempted. Speaking to Express, R Sudhakar, Joint Commissioner of Police (South), said, “The reason to wear a helmet is, we do not hurt our head when we fall down. How can it imply only to rider? Irrespective of whoever rides pillion, they should make sure helmet is on. Even if it is a 10-year-old kid or 70-year-old,” he said. The DGP office ordered Tamil Nadu police officers to initiate awareness campaigns. The list of number of cases will be submitted to the control room at police headquarters everyday, with columns mentioning ‘helmet cases registered against rider and pillion rider’.
Road safety activists say many pillion riders do not wish to wear helmets for silly reasons like not to ruin the hair style, weight on the head and so on. “Unlike 2015, when wearing helmet was made mandatory, we did not get any time to buy helmets,” said Ravichandran, an activist. He added that in 2015 after court observed that many lives were lost because motorists did not wear helmet, government imposed strict rules in July, 2015.
big demand for helmets
With helmets being made compulsory for pillion riders too coming into effect, most helmet shops in the city are flooded with parents waiting to purchase small helmets for their kids. Helmet shops are now stocking helmets of all sizes. Earlier, only helmets of standard size were available. Now even small helmets with cartoon characters are entering the shops.