Helmet for pillion riders must from today; cops to raise awareness

 The new rule making wearing of helmets mandatory for pillion riders of all kinds of two-wheelers will come into effect from Tuesday.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M A Saleem said that a campaign would be held from from January 12 to 20 to create awareness among the public on the new rule.

Distribution of pamphlets, creating awareness with displays on hoardings and posters, holding bike rallies and education programmes to spread the message about the new rule would be part of the campaign. Not wearing helmets without the ISI mark would also amount to helmet-less riding and hence amounts to violation of the law. The Supreme Court-appointed committee would monitor the developments in the initial phases, he added.

Meanwhile, helmet retailers in the City witnessed at least 10 per cent growth in their business with the rule coming into force. When Deccan Herald spoke to retailers across the City, they said that they had almost run out of stock and that fresh order had been placed for.

R Thyagaraj Naidu, owner, Balaji Helmet Palace, said that they have seen at least 10 per cent increase in helmet sales over the last week. “A good number of people have been buying it after the announcement was made,” he added.

With the traffic police insisting that riders and their pillion wear Indian Standards Index (ISI) certified helmets only, most of them have been asking for the ones with the ISI mark, according to Naidu.

Another trader Ramesh Naidu said that even with a surge in demand, the prices have not gone up yet. Naidu said that the certified ones were prefered over the ordinary. “Our sales have improved by about 20 per cent,” he said. However, senior citizens who are uncomfortable with the ones that are heavy opt for the lighter ones even though they do not have the ISI certificate.

The present trend has, however, drawn mixed responses from traders in terms of their anticipation. While a few optimistic traders have placed orders for hundreds of them to be delivered next month, a few others wish to know if the implementation will be successful.

Stephen, owner, Helmets Gallery in Koramangala said that the present stock was getting cleared soon. Yet, he would wait to see if the Supreme Court order would be implemented.

"If we place an order now, it will take us about a month to get the delivery. We will wait for a while and observe the trend. Later, we would place an order.” Stephen added.