No helmet? Prepare for Rs 2000 fine

Hyderabad: Bikers violating the ‘must wear helmet rule’ will have to pay up to Rs 2,000 as penalty and attend counseling for three consecutive days. Currently, the fine is a measly Rs 100 for those who have been booked for the first time and Rs 200 for further violations of the rule. A traffic official said though helmet-wearing as a practice had increased since the launch of a special traffic drive in March, a large number of two-wheeler riders were continuing to violate the rule.

Across Hyderabad, nearly 10 lakh cases have been booked against two-wheeler riders for violation of the helmet rule in a span of just four months. Also, over 1.56 lakh bikers have been booked twice for the same violation, and over 10,000 have violated the rule a stunning five times.

“We have written to the state government to issue a GO to increase the fine amount to Rs 2,000. The High Court had earlier asked the government to increase the fine to improve compliance,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), A.V. Ranganath said. Traffic cops have also proposed that the fine be raised to Rs 1,000 for a two-wheeler booked a second time for helmet rule violation, and two days of counseling. If the two-wheeler rider is booked three times or on more number of occasions, the fine will be Rs 2,000 and there will be three days of counselling.

Signal-jumping can now cost you your licence:

The Road Transport Authority has suspended the licences of 29 motorists for jumping traffic signals. Earlier, licences were suspended only for drunk driving, speaking on the phone while driving and overloading. Also, about three dozen more cases of signal jumping are pending with officials for which notices have been issued to motorists seeking explanation as to why their licences should not be suspended.

But motorists are asking for a case-by-case study. “Several times, a motorist was booked when he or she had become stuck mid-way due to slow traffic,’ said city advocate P. Rajeshwar Rao. Others want cops to get the signalling system right first. “Signals are often operated manually. Timers tell us when the lights will turn green. Manual gets confusing,” said social worker T.S. Gupta.