HELMET RULE

Supreme Court

Meeran Borwankar

AHCAC

no doubt

Harshad Abhyankar

traffic project

The state government is setting out to achieve what three police commissioners and thehave failed to do in Pune — implement a strict rule for wearing helmets. On the occasion of road safety week, the government has ordered that this rule be brought into force with immediate effect. Defaulters will, along with a fine, have to attend a traffic rules counselling session for at least two hours and have their licences suspended for a minimum of three months in case of traffic rule violation.The rule is already in place across the country according to a Supreme Court directive, but public opposition in Pune continues to fight the law. This, according to traffic cops, will make it difficult to get the rule in place immediately.In 2008, then Pune police commissioner Satyapal Singh had issued an order making helmets compulsory in the city. However, that did not sustain for long. Similarly, in 2012,, too, implemented the rule for all police officers and then tried to do the the same for the general public. Once again, she was shouted down by protesters, as was Satish Mathur in 2014.At a road safety conference held in Nagpur under the aegis of the transport minister last month, it was decided that the SC rule was to be stringently followed. A report is to be sent to the government every three months.For Pune traffic cops, it continues to be a struggle in the face of strong public opposition. “We have already started to suspend licences in case of traffic violators and auto drivers who refuse to ply passengers. We will continue with this,” said Sarang Awad, DCP (traffic).However, he added, “The new rule of counselling has just been introduced by the government and will need time to be planned out. At our level, we have been taking action against two-wheeler riders for not wearing helmets, too. Many drives aimed specifically for wearing helmets have been conducted by the traffic police.”The opposition is, as ever, set to protest. “We will protest against this rule. We have already conveyed our objections as this rule is not practical. There are many other traffic issues which need to be addressed instead. The state government is giving unnecessary emphasis on wearing helmets. We will soon decide our plan of action,” said Balasaheb Runwal of the Anti Helmet Compulsion Action Committee ().“It will take some time to create awareness about wearing helmets. There isthat fatal accidents can be controlled by wearing a helmet. Our society is not mature enough to understand the importance of traffic rules. So, compulsion is needed at the initial stage,” saidcoordinator of Janawani.