Nagpur: Beware, two-wheeler riders! City cops have resumed drive against helmetless ride. The decision to make helmets compulsory was taken after the Maharashtra government issued a circular on December 31, 2015. The Nagpur city traffic police had been conducting road safety awareness programmes for motorists for over a month before enforcing the rule. City cops had launched a concerted campaign against two-wheeler riders to ensure effective enforcement of the mandatory helmet rule.
In the meanwhile, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court itself admitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 50/2016. During the hearing on the said PIL on Thursday (July 14, 2016), the High Court referred to its earlier directives on a PIL (86/2003) delivered on March 3, 2005. The Court had directed the city police to create awareness among citizens about safety aspects of wearing helmets. The High Court had also asked the citizens to lodge their formal complaints with Transport Commissioner, Mumbai, City Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Nagpur and Director, Bureau of Indian Standards against the sale of inferior quality of helmets.
Accordingly, the city police created awareness among common people about safety aspects of wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers. And now, the cops have resumed the drive against helmetless riders from Saturday(July 16). The DCP (Traffic) Smartana Patil said that special teams will be deployed at various junctions to ensure effective enforcement of the mandatory helmet rule. Earlier, the traffic police had penalized thousands of two-wheeler riders for riding without helmets. Emphasis would also be on ensuring that four-wheeler drivers fasten their seat belts while driving. Violators would be slapped with a fine of 100 under Section 129 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
