Special drive begins today to book women who ride without helmet

The Delhi Traffic Police will start prosecuting women from Wednesday for not wearing helmets. Helmets have been made mandatory for women driving or riding pillion on two wheelers. However, Sikh women have been exempted on religious grounds.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla said 100 teams shall be deployed at institutional areas, office complexes, market places, malls, commercial centres and important intersections.

The areas include Nehru Place, Rajendra Place, Connaught Place, Rajouri Garden, Vasant Vihar, Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Vikas Marg, Karol Bagh, Dwarka, Najafgarh Road, Mall Road and Aurobindo Marg. Teams of women officers have also been trained to spot offenders.

On August 28, the Delhi government had issued a notification making helmets mandatory for women, driving or riding pillion on two wheelers.

The government has amended the rule 115 of Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules, 1993 to make the new provisions. According to the earlier provision, it was optional for women pillion riders to wear helmets.

In 1998, the government had made wearing helmets mandatory for all pillion riders, but following objections from the people belonging to Sikh community, it had to amend the Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules, 1993 in June 1999 and made it optional for women.

Shukla added that they would also be challaning riders who do not wear helmets which conform to the Bureau of Indian Standards.

“We will crackdown on anyone found to be travelling without a proper helmet. Apart from issuing a challan to the violators, we will also educate them about the features of a standard helmet,” he said.