Law enforcement agencies say they are planning to use the momentum gained in recent times of having better compliance to helmet rule to encourage more people towards adhering to safety norms while riding two-wheelers in Puducherry.
Officials in the Transport Department and Traffic Police say they are witnessing some positive change in the mindset of people on wearing helmet especially after the police started imposing fines on those not wearing the head gear and the subsequent punitive action initiated by the Transport Department.
From the beginning of this year, the traffic police started an intensive drive against those not wearing helmet while riding two-wheelers.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Brijendra Kumar Yadav, recently had told media persons that they have issued challan to around 46,000 two-wheeler riders for not wearing helmet.
Of the total challans issued, 26,000 were recommended to the Transport Department for suspension of licence, he had said.
Data available with the Traffic Police revealed that the number of people caught for not wearing helmet in 2023 was the highest so far.
In 2022, only around 32,109 persons were served challan for not wearing helmet. The number was only 5,274 in 2021, he said.
“The enforcement has certainly improved, and we are seeing marginal improvement in compliance level because those who were fined will have to pay ₹1,000 and also risk their licence getting suspended as per the rules of Motor Vehicles Act,” Superintendent of Police Traffic C. Maran said.
Besides conducting more such drives to catch those violating the rule, he said the traffic police planned to conduct awareness programmes near higher educational Institutions and industrial estates.
“We are sure that more people will start wearing helmets voluntarily in the days to come. Our appeal to people is to wear helmet while riding their vehicles as it concerns their own safety. Also, the repeat offenders are at the risk of losing their licence and getting a new licence will be more difficult,” Mr. Maran said.
Notices served for DL suspension
According to Transport Commissioner A. S. Sivakumar, the department has so far issued notices to around 2,000 Driving Licence (DL) holders before suspending the DL for not wearing helmet.
“We are taking up the list provided by the Traffic Police for suspending licence. Notices have already been served to 2,000 licence holders and we will be serving notices to 3,000 more violators soon. There is a visible change on the roads. We want to gradually improve the compliance level by enforcement as well through awareness campaigns. More steps will be taken in this direction in the coming days.,” Mr. Sivakumar said.
There has been no let-up in accidents involving two-wheelers. In August alone, there were four fatal accidents involving two-wheeler riders. In the same month, 10 riders sustained grievous, and 32 others sustained minor injuries while riding two-wheelers in Puducherry.
“The fatal accidents are a result of not wearing a helmet. Injury to skull is the most important cause of death in two-wheeler accidents. We have already asked the police to intensify the drive on State and National Highways. Most of the two-wheeler accidents were reported on the long-distance roads connecting the town. So, we have asked the police to enforce the rule more strictly on those stretches,” Mr. Sivakumar said.
COMMents
SHARE