Traffic police on the lookout for two-wheeler riders wearing low quality headgear

Bengaluru: If you’re a bike or scooter rider, the next time you are caught riding without an Indian Standard Institute (ISI)-marked helmet, be ready to face the ire of the traffic police as you will be booked for not wearing a helmet. From next week the city traffic police will start a drive against riders who put their lives at peril by buying and using  low-quality helmets.

Additional commissioner of police (Traffic & security) M.A. Saleem told this newspaper, “Since the rule has been enforced for close to three months and the riders have been made aware that they have to wear helmets, they are not buying standard helmets.”

He added that the department would start a drive against those who wear helmets without the ISI trademark. “Right now, we have not fined anyone for not wearing ISI-certified helmets. But we will certainly crack down strictly in the coming week. We have been telling city motorists to wear proper protective gear, because wearing bad or cheap helmets is as good as not wearing a helmet. They will be booked if they are found wearing  low-standard safety gear.”

Meanwhile, it has been close to three months since the Bengaluru traffic police enforced the rule which  made  it mandatory for pillion riders to wear safety gear. The city traffic police have booked close to 3 lakh cases on  March 12. The fines collected during the enforcement drive are close to Rs. 3 crore.

The senior officer said that the compliance rate has gone up to about 85 percent. But the worrying factor is the riders are not considering their own safety, but are wearing low- standard helmets out of fear that  traffic cops would penalize them for not wearing one. “They should understand that their safety is the first concern,” pointed Mr. Saleem.

“On the whole, the department has been successful in implementing the rule and ensuring that the riders and pillion riders wear safety gear. But there have been dismaying instances of fatal accidents where the riders were found clutching their helmets in  their arms rather wearing them!  In some cases, the riders died because they were wearing cheap helmets with only a cloth covering their head from inside. We still have a long way to go before we can make the motorists understand  that it’s important to value their their lives,” said a senior police officer.