837 Licenses Seized in 10 Days for Helmet Rule Violation in Vizag

Visakhapatnam:The Deputy Transport Department in Visakhapatnam has confiscated 837 driving licenses and registered 2,500 cases for helmet violations in the past ten days. This is part of a special enforcement drive aimed at ensuring all riders, including those driving in the Pavilion area, wear helmets.

G.C. Raja Ratnam, the Deputy Transport Commissioner of Vizag stated in a conversation with the Deccan Chronicle that licenses of those caught violating the helmet law will be suspended for three months. The process of canceling licenses is underway, and the licenses of the remaining 2,500 violators will be revoked soon.

He also explained that first-time offenders face a three-month suspension, second offenses increase to six months, and third-time offenders' vehicles are seized and their licenses are cancelled for one year. ADCP Traffic Commissioner K. Praveen Kumar noted that 40 teams have been formed for the drive.

Violation of Motor Vehicles Rules on wearing helmets is minimum in Visakhapatnam city, where around 85 percent of two-wheeler riders were found wearing the helmet. Recently, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the state government to take immediate steps to implement MV Act rules, which mandate the wearing of a head guard by two-wheeler riders.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport's’ research in 2022, 2,073 two-wheeler riders and 970 pillion riders were killed in Andhra Pradesh, with over 4,000 riders and 2,600 pavilion passengers injured due to not wearing helmets.