VIJAYAWADA: It’s been more than a month since Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that all two-wheelers must wear a helmet while driving, failing which they won’t be getting petrol at the fuel stations and their licenses will be cancelled for repeating the offence.
However, Vijayawada police has failed to implement the helmet rule and also the “No Helmet- No Petrol” norm.
According to data available with police department, around 2,700 two-wheeler riders died in road accidents in 2016 out of which, 20 per cent died due to head injuries.
In August, the State government took the decision to act tough against violators to reduce the deaths caused by road accidents. They decided to make the helmet rule mandatory across the State and gave orders to all 13 district collectors.
Krishna district collector B Lakshmikantham passed an order that those who fail to wear helmet will be imposed fines and their vehicles will be seized on committing the offence for a second time. Further, police asked petrol bunk owners not to give petrol if one is not wearing a helmet.
City police commissioner Gautam Sawang announced that the rule would be implemented in the commissionerate limits from September 28. But they failed to implement the rule on the ground level.
“We conducted several meetings on the implementation and difficulties of ‘No HelmetNo Petrol’. In the meetings, a few expressed their concern that motorists may act hostile if they are refused petrol. We will appoint our personnel and monitor activities in CCTV cameras. It will take some time,” said Sawang.
However, petrol bunk owners supported the cause and told they are concerned about the security at night. “We are ready to work along with police.
But we cannot let our staff work in risk. A few will react and some may even attack us on being refused fuel. We need to ensure both security and business,” said petrol bunk owner Krishna Rao. Expressing concern that crime rate in the city would increase if the rule is implemented in the city, a few citizens requested police to find alternate measures to reduce road accidents.
“We all know that Vijayawada is notorious for chain snatching. Anybody wearing a helmet can commit a crime and walk free. Police cannot identity them, even with the help of CCTV footage. There should be another way to tackle road accidents,” opined P Kesava Reddy, a businessman