#HelmetsOn: We Sincerely Hope This One’s For Real!

Helmet Compulsion in Pune
Image used for representation only.

Almost every single day, a life is lost or a rider is incapacitated in an accident and in almost all the cases of serious skull or brain injury it is the lack of a helmet that is stark.

This time around, the Pune Police and RTO seem more committed to the strict enforcement which has been announced from January 1st 2019.

Pune365 has been consistently campaigning ( over the past one year) for the strict enforcement of helmets and finally, we see a ray of hope!

While speaking to Ranjit Gadgil, Program director of Parisar, he opines, “According to a survey by Parisar on the city, we have found that approximately only 28 per cent of riders wear helmets. That is more akin to only a handful of people wearing helmets.

Helmets are very essential because it is only the safety gear on a two-wheeler. A car has a body which works as safety gear during the accident and using helmets can avoid a fatality.

Simply raising awareness and appealing to people will not increase compliance and hence, the enforcement becomes quite essential.

Therefore, the move from RTO and Pune police is appreciated. However, the continuity of such enforcement is every essential, unlike other drives it should not be stopped.

The department should target majorly on the college goers as they’re more vulnerable to ride and enforcing them to use a helmet will also make them a better citizen tomorrow.

While asking on the past enforcement on helmets, Ranjit says, ” In the past where such effective rules were implemented they were opposed by the political parties in the city which got huge support by the citizens of Pune.

The Supreme court appointed a committee road safety has been issuing letters to regional RTOs and Police departments for enforcing such rules not only in the city, but all over the country.

The enforcement of helmets will be successful if the process is continuous, Road safety NGOs, traffic police should work proactively.

The government has made helmets compulsory for their employees, a similar method can be adopted with delivery people as they’re more prone to accidents and spend half their day on two-wheelers.

Corporates and colleges should also make it compulsory, Ranjit added.

Dilip Bhise, Senior software professional says, Finally the much-needed move is going to be enforced in the city.

Our city has the highest number of two-wheelers in Asia, but when it comes to the safety of people riding two-wheelers, it is sheer negligence on both citizens and the police authorities part.

According to Regional Transport office norms, helmets should be sold along with the sale of a two-wheeler, but, in Pune this norm is not followed due to which we have such worst conditions when it comes to the compulsion of helmets.

Sharing his experience, Bhise says, When I got my vehicle, I was not provided with the helmet.

After surviving one accident I was forced to use helmets by my family and I have been wearing one for 9 years now, without any complaint whatsoever.

Lately, I have understood that helmet is not for someone’s safety but for my own safety, it protects my head, hair and also my face from a sun tan, he added.

Neha Sharma, freelancer says, “Helmets are a must! Accidents at slow speed also can be fatal if the rider is not wearing a helmet. A minute head injury can damage the brain to a great extent.”

We do hope this is enforced on the ground and the citizens understand how important it is to protect one’s head while riding! In some of these cases, it is not actually the riders fault if they get injured, they may be wearing all the right gear but be hit by a car and suffer greatly. If this is one of the outcomes, they may have to look seriously into personal injury lawyers jacksonville fl, or lawyers in their immediate area, depending on where the accident took place.

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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.

Ankita Malekar