Helmets: Andhra Pradesh HC issues summons to traffic police IG

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has pulled up the state police over the death of as many as 667 bikers in AP due mainly to their failure to wear helmet -- from June to September this year.

A division bench of chief justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi held a hearing on Wednesday in a PIL filed by advocate Tandava Yogesh. The court expressed its concern and displeasure over the slackness of the police, which failed to implement road rules.

The court noted, “If the breadwinner in a family is killed in a road accident, it would affect the entire family.” It issued summons to the inspector general of police (traffic) to appear before it at the next hearing on December 18.

The petitioner cited non-implementation of rules in Central Motor Vehicles Act and the failure of the police to impose fines for violation of road safety norms.

The bench asked the police and road transport officials as to who stopped them from action. Why were they not seizing the vehicles of such people, it asked.

It also asked as to why the state government failed to fill up vacancies in the traffic police force. Out of a sanctioned strength of 8,770 traffic police personnel, there were only 1,994, the court had been told.

The division bench referred to the strict implementation of road rules in Telangana and wondered why this seriousness was lacking. It asked the AP government whether it set up any speed guns along the national highways similar to what Telangana did.