Says will raise awareness on issue

The State government on Thursday assured the Madras High Court that it would strictly enforce the motor vehicle rules, which require pillion riders also to compulsorily wear helmets. It also said that adequate awareness on the subject would be created through print as well as electronic media.

Additional Advocate-General P.H. Arvindh Pandian made the submission before a Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, who were seized of a public interest litigation petition filed by K.K. Rajendran, 62, an activist from Korattur, seeking strict implementation of the rules.

Conceding that the data submitted by the police on the number of people booked for not wearing helmets does not contain the action taken against pillion riders, the AAG undertook to file separate affidavits on the issue, on behalf of the Transport Secretary as well as the police department on August 31.

In his affidavit, the petitioner had claimed that more than 70% of motor accidents occurred due to failure of drivers to adhere to traffic rules. He claimed that as many as 4,091 helmet-less riders died in road accidents in 2016, while 2,956 died in 2017 and there was an urgent need to implement the helmet rule strictly. The petitioner also wanted the police to act against those who travel in cars without wearing seat belts.

However, during the course of the hearing of the case, the judges said that the police generally crackdown only on those who ride motorcycles without wearing helmets and do not care about pillion riders.