Two-wheeler drivers and pillion riders take note: soon, wearing a helmet alone may not protect you from a fine. The Bengaluru City Traffic Police is planning to once again enforce the ban on helmets that don’t carry the ISI mark, after a month of conducting awareness drives. The aim is to minimise fatal accidents and the importance of ISI-marked helmets, said senior traffic officials.
After a month-long awareness campaign, the traffic police will start penalising riders. “A rider wearing a sub-standard helmet will be considered as helmetless, and will be fined ₹500. This is applicable for pillion riders, too,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), B. R. Ravikanthe Gowda. Apart from the penalty, a rider’s licence will be impounded and sent to the RTO concerned recommending suspension. The period of suspension may vary between six to eight weeks.
Only 44% motorists wear certified helmet
According to Mr. Gowda, a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and the traffic police at 15 locations across the city revealed that only 44% of motorists use ISI-marked helmets. “The rest use sub-standard helmets just to avoid being penalised by the police. The study also revealed that 70% of pillion riders use helmets,” said Mr. Gowda.
Over the years, awareness drives and penalties have seen more people wear helmets but not ISI-standard. “”Over the last 20 years, the traffic police managed to increase the percentage of riders wearing helmets from 5% to 92% through strict enforcement. However, out of the 92% of riders only 44% wear ISI-helmets and follow the rules by strapping them,” he added.
Traffic police officers say that more often than not, two-wheeler riders often use the price of an ISI-standard helmet as an excuse. “People spend thousands of rupees buying two-wheelers but become careless when buying helmets,” said Anilkumar Grampurohith, Inspector (traffic), Chickpet.
The traffic police is planning to write to all DCPs requesting them to ensure that police personnel follow the rules. Police personnel using half helmets have to replace them with ISI-marked ones. The campaign is going to start from within the department, said Mr. Gowda.