Helmetless pillion riders to be penalised from today

Beginning Wednesday, the City traffic police will crack the whip against pillion riders who do not wear helmets.

The police decided to enforce the rule from January 20 after conducting campaigns for about two weeks to create awareness about the Supreme Court order and the importance of both the rider and the pillion wearing helmets. The rule also applies to children aged 12 years and above.

“The enforcement will begin on Wednesday and the police will act against violators,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M A Saleem told Deccan Herald.

Joint teams
Joint teams of the Transport department and the traffic police department have been formed to check violations, he added.

Section 129 of the Motor Vehicle Act-1988 empowers the police to book riders for helmet-less riding. The police will impose a penalty of Rs 100 for the first offence, Rs 300 for the second and will recommend suspension of driving licence for the third offence. If a pillion rider fails to wear helmet, the two-wheeler rider will be penalised for the violation, the police said.

The police said about 800 riders or pillion riders were killed in accidents in the City in the past four years and about 4,000 were injured. In these accidents, about 90 per cent of them were not wearing any type of headgear.

The State government introduced the rule after the Supreme Court Committee of Road Safety directed six states, including Karnataka, in August last year to make helmets mandatory for pillion riders. Helmet for pillion riders is mandatory in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Kerala.