Helmet for pillion riders to be enforced from today

In pursuance of high court orders, the State police will start enforcing helmets for pillion riders on two wheelers from Saturday. The high court had ordered enforcement of this provision of the Motor Vehicles Act in order to ensure the safety of two-wheeler riders. However, due to factors including lack of public awareness and anomalies in road related infrastructure and enforcement of traffic regulations, the general public in Dehradun has mixed views on this development.

Homemaker Sandhya Dwivedi says, “Enforcing helmet rule is of little use if the condition of roads is not good enough. There are number of pot holes on the roads. If you have a mishap due to a pothole a helmet may protect the head but will not prevent injuries to other parts of the body.”

Ex serviceman Tej Singh said, “It is a welcome direction by the High Court. People do not take safety seriously here. A proper helmet can minimise risk of fatal head injury during a road accident for both the rider and the person riding pillion. Everyone should follow this rule. People should always keep safety ahead of comfort and style.”

According to college student Shubham Chauhan, “Many youth don’t wear helmets for some unintelligent reasons. Some don’t feel comfortable, some are careless and lazy, some have grown watching irresponsible adults and some are more worried about their hairdo than safety. Such individuals don’t take safety seriously unless something undesirable happens to them or their loved ones. Law enforcement has also been weak. I hope that this time people will follow it sincerely as life of pillion riders is important too.”

Harsh Shrivastav, who works in an MNC, has a different take on the rule. He says, “I understand the importance of pillion riders’ safety but the enforcement of helment rule regarding children should be clarified. Generally I drop my children to school and bring them back home. Where would I or children keep all the helmets? I do care about their safety but it is not practical to carry more than one helmet all the time.”

It is pertinent to mention here that following high court directions, the state police had decided to strictly enforce the use of helmet for pillion riders fromAugust 11. According to the police, efforts were undertaken to raise public awareness on this and from Saturday, the enforcement of the regulation will be stepped up. However, observers point out that little has been done to raise public awareness on this rule with even policemen riding pillion sans helmets in the provisional state capital Dehradun.