Unsafe helmets everywhere: Who’s to blame?

“I mostly use public transport, but I carry a helmet if I need to travel pillion with friends. My half-helmet is easier to carry in a bag,” says Aashith K, an artiste based in Bengaluru. “However, I have never been caught for wearing a half-helmet,” he adds.

M Anuradha, a resident of Malleshwaram, also says she has never been fined for wearing half-helmets while pillion-riding. She adds that carrying a full helmet is a problem.

“Storing two big helmets in the dicky is impossible. If we carry it in hand, security staff do not allow us to take them inside shopping places. The helmet is meant for our safety, but it is practically tough to manage even for short-distance travel,” she adds.

In fact, many citizens in Bengaluru use half-helmets due to their compactness and to evade fines. However, even half-helmets are fined in many instances, especially after the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) introduced an Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) in December 2022.

In ITMS, smart cameras powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) capture six types of violations in 50 prime traffic junctions. This is a part of BTP’s plan to enforce contactless enforcement of vehicular fines.

Along with helmet-less and half-helmet riding, these cameras detect stop line violations, signal jumping, not wearing a seat belt, being on the phone while driving and triple-riding. The number plate is captured for each such vehicle electronically. 

In addition, traffic cops also take photos and book them through an app. “Traffic cops do not stop anybody for not wearing helmets,” says M N Anucheth, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Bengaluru City. 

This system detects even half-helmets and treats them as wearing no helmets. A helmet manufactured according to Indian Standards Institution (ISI) standards has a particular gauge and material to offer full protection to the head, neck, ears and jaws in case of an impact (accident).

‘Contact-less, corruption-less’

“The whole idea of ITMS was to reduce corruption; that’s why we went for a contactless system,” Anucheth explains. 97% of the cases are booked using this method, while only 3% involve contact between the offender and the cops. 

All 4,625 traffic cops in the city wear body-worn cameras (BWC), with 350 having a sim card and beaming live feed to the Traffic Management Centre. These cameras should be on while capturing violations. When there are allegations of corruption in fines involving contact, Anucheth says there is a scope to check for evidence. 

This has increased transparency and reduced corruption allegations, he adds. The police do not issue challans directly unless it is a case of inter-state vehicle caught flouting rules, whose address may not be in Karnataka. 

While challans are automatically processed for most helmet fines through ITMS, the staff monitor the feed at the Traffic Management Centre of BTP and crosscheck doubtful cases manually before processing challans.

“There are instances of helmets being treated as no helmets, in the case of women having long hair wearing black helmets. Such mistakes are rare and can be rectified if brought to our notice,” says Anucheth, giving an example of cases needing manual checks.

While the ITMS can identify half-helmets, it cannot distinguish between ISI-certified and non-ISI helmets. The vehicles that do not pass through the junctions where AI cameras are generally not caught. This is why many wearing half-helmets, especially for short-distance commutes, are not fined.

Checking standards

According to the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, everyone aged above four must wear the protective headgear, or helmet, approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which means legally helmets should be ISI-certified. Though the BTP enforce the traffic rules, they do not have the authority to seize and fine the sellers and manufacturers of half-helmets and non-ISI helmets.

“There is only a fine, no imprisonment for not wearing a helmet or wearing a half-helmet. We just book the violations; the police have no say in pinning down the sellers and manufacturers,” says Anucheth. The police department assists the authorised personnel when their help is sought while raiding a manufacturer or a seller.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is supposed to ensure that non-ISI helmets do not enter the market. Through a gazetted order in November 2020, the Union government made IS:4151 certification mandatory for helmets with a standard ISI marking. It designated the BIS as the certifying and enforcing authority for helmets.

The BIS grants a licence after assessing manufacturing infrastructure, quality control and testing capabilities, and production process during a visit to manufacturing premises. It also tests the helmets for impact absorption, resistance to penetration, rigidity, audibility, opening angle, flexibility of peak and other parameters before awarding the license.

The 2020 notification empowers the BIS to seize non-ISI helmets from the market and manufacturers and penalise the sellers and makers. BIS cannot take action on people who wear half-helmets or non-ISI helmets.

IS 4151:2015 standards specify the shell, protective padding, comfort padding, retention system, metal parts, visor material, and construction requirements for a helmet. The total weight cannot exceed 1.5 kg. There are various tests BIS officials undertake to evaluate the quality. ISI seal contains the Component Manufacturer List (CML) number, which can be crosschecked using the BIS Care app, which BIS released to register complaints and citizen service.

Narendra Reddy, Joint Director, BIS, Bengaluru, says there have been many awareness campaigns to educate two-wheeler riders and police about the necessity and importance of helmets. However, no raids have been conducted on any manufacturer or seller in Bengaluru city since 2021 because there have been no complaints.

“We do not get to know where helmets are manufactured. People can alert us about sellers of half-helmets and non-ISI helmets using the BIS Care App on the Google Playstore/Apple App Store,” he adds.

Reddy says even complaints regarding the quality of helmets or duplicate ISI helmets can be logged using the app. If there are manufacturers who want to comply with the legal requirements of ISI helmets, they can walk into the BIS office, finish the formalities and pay the fee online to initiate the certification process.

Who is responsible?

Who is responsible when someone who wears a non-standard helmet or does not wear one dies in an accident? Anucheth says it depends on various factors, not just the helmet. It may be other vehicles, potholes or recklessness on the driver’s part, and cases are filed based on situations.

Data for pothole deaths shows that the number of riders dead is more than the number of pillion riders who died. There were 103 helmet-related deaths in 2020, 113 in 2021 and 112 in 2022 on Bengaluru’s roads.

The BTP data show that cases of individuals not wearing a helmet or wearing an improper helmet have increased steadily, from 33 lakh in 2019 to 70 lakh cases in 2022. However, in the first seven months of 2023, there have only been 30,75,334 cases, indicating a declining trend this year.

“The drop could be because people know that AI cameras are watching at prime junctions. Also, those who were fined may act as our ambassadors to give word-of-mouth publicity for fines,” says a traffic department official.

‘Wear ISI helmets’

The BTP does not fine people for not wearing ISI helmets as of now. However, helmets should be ISI-certified according to law, and the onus of wearing the right type of helmet that ensures safety during accidents is on the two-wheeler rider. 

Since the fining of half-helmets is not strictly enforced, many go for cheaper half-helmets available on the roadside for Rs 100-150, which offer no protection in case of accidents. The origin of these unbranded helmets remains a secret. While some say the supply comes from Delhi, others say Tamil Nadu, but street vendors DH spoke to did not reveal the sources.

A few authorised dealers of branded helmets DH spoke to said that most people who visit their stores look for ISI-certified helmets. However, some even store cheaper helmets of non-ISI brands, which may not match the quality of ISI-certified helmets in terms of material strength and safety because people want cheaper helmets.

“Traffic safety is an individual responsibility. When there is a rule, people should respect it. One can go for ISI or non-ISI helmets, but the awareness that one should wear quality helmets should be ingrained in people. It is for their own safety,” says Anucheth.