Helmet rule goes over motorists’ heads

Guntur/Vijayawada: Despite helmet being made mandatory for two-wheeler riders from August 1, police officials seem least concerned about the implementation of the rule.
Motorists in Guntur and Vijayawada were seen riding motorcycles without wearing a helmet on the second day of the rule being made compulsory. Lack of awareness about importance of wearing helmet is keeping the public away from following the rule.

Meanwhile, social activists are of the opinion that merely enforcing the rule would not change mindset of people and public awareness programmes should be conducted on the importance of wearing helmet.

P. Kamalakar, a social activist from Guntur said that before enforcing any rule, the government should create awareness among citizens regarding it and only then should it be implemented.

In-charge DSP for traffic (Guntur urban) P. Srinivas said the police department is planning to launch awareness programmes on a large scale to educate the public on the need of wearing helmet.

Mr Srinivas said that most of the deaths related to road accidents could be prevented if the riders used helmet as a preventive measure.

Mr  Srinivas said that implementing rules by force would not be possible every time.

Meanwhile, in Vijayawada, while the day one saw some awareness programmes initiated by the cops, the second day passed on with people showing no interest in following the new rule.

Interestingly, the road transport authority, which conducted checks and fined motorcyclists last month before the implementation of the rule, did not make any such efforts on Sunday.