Hyderabad: Traffic cops to crack whip on helmetless riders

Hyderabad: Upping its ante against the bike riders sans helmet, the traffic police has decided to impose a severe crackdown on violators who are not tamed by the challans, and continue to remain reckless.

An officer from the traffic department, on the condition of anonymity said, "The number of deaths happening due to helmet-less riding is on the rise in the State. Over 7,000 accidents take place every year, out of which 30 per cent constitute helmet-less riding. This is a grave concern because the 30 per cent of accidents could have been prevented if the rider wore a helmet."

"In order to prevent the accidents and to reduce the deaths being caused due to no helmet, the top brass of the department has planned to penalise the violators heavily and conduct a regular checking at various places in the city so that citizens can be aware of risks of not wearing helmets. By doing so, we are hopeful that we can bring down the death ratio caused due to non-wearing of helmets," said the officer. Another officer added, "The Section 129 of Motor Vehicle Act mandates a rider to wear helmet. Further, the judgments of Kerala High Court and Madras High Court are clear about the rule and the courts have stuck down the government orders for exempting the pillion rider from wearing helmets. The courts in their judgments have clearly mentioned that both rider and pillion rider should wear helmet as per the sections prescribed in the Motor Vehicle Act."

"Due to the continuous vigil and regular checking, the traffic police have been able to curtail the number of accidents, but still there are a lot of violations as the number of vehicles keep on increasing in the city. We have time and again requested the citizens to step out of their homes only if they have a helmet and it is done to avoid any kind of mishaps, also it has been requested that citizens should prefer only ISI-marked helmets and they should buckle it properly," said the officer.