Karnataka High Court seeks govt report on helmet mandate implementation

Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court on Wednesday sought a comprehensive response from the state government in the PIL seeking implementation of compulsory helmets and safety harness to children riding on two wheelers. A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice MI Arun has adjourned the hearing to March 11.

The bench was hearing the PIL filed by Dr Archana Bhat, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology, Kateel Ashok Pai Memorial College, Shivamogga in 2023. The advocate for the petitioner said that though Rule 138(7) of Central Motor Vehicles (Second Amendment) Rules, 2022 required usage of crash helmets and safety harness, the same has not been implemented.

The requirement is for the children in the age group between 9 months and four years, who ride pillion. The petition stated that as per the report regarding road accidents in India, 2021, published by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a total 7,744 persons below the age of 18 years succumbed to road accidents, which translates to an average of 21 persons in the age group of below 18 years each day.

At the hearing, Justice MI Arun said that in Bengaluru city wheeling has become common and the police are not taking any action. “In Bengaluru, we find in certain areas youngsters, teenagers, in their early twenties, riding three persons riding on a scooter or a motorbike doing wheelies. The police don’t take any action against them. What is the government doing with regard to it? That is causing a huge nuisance. Anybody living in Bengaluru knows about it. There have been reported accidents, deaths caused because of that (wheeling). It is about implementing the existing laws,” he said.

The bench directed the state government to file the response furnishing on oath the relevant details and taking a stand with regard to the prayer for implementation of the Rule.

The bench also said that in the next hearing, the approach of the court may not be confined only to the implementation of Rule 138 (7). “But, the court may require the state authorities to address the implementation of the safety rules for the two-wheeler riders including the pillion riders and number of riders, and the number of persons who ride on such two-wheelers,” the bench said, while posting the matter to March 17 for further hearing.