Car owner penalised for not wearing helmet in Kerala

In a challan, the photo of a motorbike is accompanied by his car registration number

In an apparent goof-up by the Kerala Traffic Police, a car owner has been fined Rs 500 by it for not wearing a helmet properly—an amusing incident but a problem for the person affected as he now has to approach the authorities to get the error corrected.

Ajith A, who owns only a Maruti Alto, received a challan of Rs 500 from the Kerala Traffic Police for "driving or causes or allows a motorcycle to be driven by wearing a protective head gear not securely fastened to the head of the wearer (helmet) (chin strap)".

The challan, dated December 7, 2021, shows two people riding a bike with the pillion rider not wearing a helmet. At the same time, the challan also indicates that the vehicle class as 'motor car' and the registration number is that of Ajith's car.

The goof-up seems to have taken place as the registration of the motorbike, an image of which is attached to the challan, is similar to that of the car except for the last two digits—11 instead of 77. Ajith, however, told the media that he has decided to file a complaint with the Motor Vehicles Department to address the issue.

When contacted, police said it could be the result of a clerical or typographical error when the registration number was being entered into the system.

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