The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Helmet rule: better late than never

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Helmet rule: better late than never

By Our Staff Reporter

DRIVE AT YOUR OWN PERIL: It's going to be curtains for riding two-wheelers without helmet in the city soon. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 12. Love it or hate it, but wear you must, come November 3. Yes. The controversial helmet rule is back, and this time there could be no let-off with the

Transport Minister, S. Santosh Reddy, insisting that the rule is here to stay even if there is a hue and cry.

Plans to introduce helmets met with stiff resistance from people on earlier occasions, notwithstanding the safety element ensured by the rule.

Pillion-riders exempted

Though pillion-riders would be left off the hook this time, all two-wheeler drivers have to wear helmets. Cheap roadside versions would not be acceptable. The ISI stamp should be there.

Calling the rule a "very positive step forward," the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Tejdeep Kaur Menon, said the deadline up to November 3 would give motorists time to buy, wear and get used to the helmet.

"We are launching a drive to seize bogus helmets, which are extremely dangerous. Riders have to use only helmets with ISI stamp," Mrs. Menon said.

The helmet story, in fact, is nothing new for the twin cities. Last March, the city police had announced that the rule would be implemented from April. The deadline was extended twice and fines were also levied.

But somewhere down the line, the drive lost momentum and went into oblivion. The debate was revived on August 1 this year, when a tragic accident on Tank Bund claimed the lives of three junior medicos.

Students of the Gandhi Medical College feel that the Government is a tad too late in coming out with a firm foot on the implementation of the rule.

Vijay Kodiratna, one of the medicos, who remembers the black Sunday when three of his batchmates were killed, says: "Our Governments have been toying with this idea for the last 15 to 16 years. Had they been decisive earlier, lots of lives would have been saved. Anyway, they have done it at least now, and let us hope it stays."

All the more, the headgear is worn more out of compulsion than conviction.

`Enforce rule strictly'

"The rule has to get into the head and helmet wearing should become a habit. It should not be viewed by people as a curse thrust upon them," safety experts point out. For Ravinder Reddy, another medico, the rule comes hardly as a surprise.

"I believe that this enthusiasm might not be there for long. We have to wait and see.

Every time they made it strict, people rush to some roadside helmet dealer and buy a sub-standard helmet and carry it around till the rule is forgotten again."

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