The year cops took helmet challenge head-on

Directing the traffic police to impose fines on those riding without helmet, Mathur made it clear that the rule wasn’t new but only that the police were not implementing it strictly.

Notwithstanding the opposition by political leaders and residents’ groups, police went ahead with the implementation. The leaders, including the mayor, deputy mayor, all BJP MLAs and the party’s city unit chief, came out in protest against the helmet norm, calling it “counterproductive”, but the opposition fizzled out as the police stayed firm on its stand.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sarang Awad said the Pune traffic police had been penalizing helmet-less riders in the past but only when they were caught violating any other traffic rule. “Now we have started to penalize riders solely for not wearing helmets. It has started to show positive effect as the number of people wearing the headgear has gone up considerably,” he said, adding that the number of road accident fatalities would also go down in some time.

‘Riders need to believe helmet is for their own safety’

As per the activists supporting the move, the challenge facing them today is to make wearing helmet a habit rather than a compulsion. According to Rajendra Sidhaye of Save Pune Traffic Movement, so long as the riders don’t think wearing a helmet is for their own safety, enforcement will not bring the desired results.

“It remains a challenge for the traffic police and activists to spread awareness about the importance of wearing the helmets and also busting the numerous myths held by people about the ill-effects of wearing a headgear. At the same time, it’s also important that no matter how much pressure the politicians put, the police should keep implementing the rule,” said Sidhaye.