Notably, following the observations of a division bench of MP high court headed by the chief justice of MPHC during hearing of a PIL that nobody is seen wearing helmets on roads, additional director general, Police Training and Research Institute (PTRI) wrote a letter to police commissioners of Bhopal and Indore and superintendents of police (SPs) across the state to ensure strict enforcement of helmet rule.
As per police data, 253 people lost their lives in 2,616 road accidents in Bhopal in 2021. The deceased included 166 two-wheeler riders, of which 121 were not wearing a helmet. So, 66% of the road accident casualties were of two-wheeler riders including the pillion riders. Similarly, 65% of the total severely injured people were two-wheeler riders. And 72% of the deceased and 52% of critically injured accident victims were in the age group of 15-45 years, a highly productive age.
A senior cop posted in Bhopal traffic police said that people just don’t want to wear a helmet. They simply do not understand that it is for their own safety and can save them in case of a road accident. They would simply hang it on their vehicle and wear it only when passing through a checkpoint just like face masks. The violators caught at the checkpoint for not wearing a helmet call their influential contacts to request the cops to leave them or they make petty excuses. They allege that police are extorting money from them in the name of riding without helmets. Whenever police run a drive against helmet violation, people start wearing helmets and stop when the drive ends.
Senior police officials maintained that enforcing the helmet rule is not easy. It is more of a behavioural issue and will take time until the people themselves are aware for their own safety. The cops deployed on the field have to face a brunt and aggression of the people when they are stopped for violating the rule. They maintained that enforcing the helmet rule for pillion riders on two-wheelers is a distant possibility as the riders themselves do not wear helmets.
A senior police official told TOI that the festive season is going on. People do not have money for their own needs. If police strictly enforce the helmet rule and impose fines on them, it can lead to public outbursts.
A senior traffic cop said that when police stop two-wheeler riders found riding their vehicle without wearing helmets, the first thing they do is call their influential contacts and ask them to tell the cops to release them without imposing fine. Bhopal being the state capital has a large number of senior political and administrative figures. If the police take action, it turns into a dispute. People accuse cops of bribery/extortion without any proof. It discourages the force. People do not understand that wearing a helmet is not only mandatory under the Motor Vehicle Rules but it can save their lives in case of an accident. A senior traffic cop citing an example for the types of excuses people make for not wearing helmets told TOI that a senior police officer himself reached the traffic police check-point at 10-Number Market during a recent traffic awareness drive. He asked the cops to stop a scooter-borne woman, who was passing by, and ask her why she was not wearing a helmet. To his utter surprise, the woman replied that it spoils her make-up. The senior police officer was so unhappy to hear her response that he immediately asked his driver to bring his car and left.
DCP (traffic) Hansraj Singh said that as per the directives, traffic police Bhopal on Tuesday have hired eight vans which will announce and spread awareness among people to follow traffic rules including wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers. The awareness drive will continue till October 6. Then from October 7 till October 20, strict helmet checking drive will be conducted across the city.
He said that Bhopal being administrative capital the headquarters of all the major departments are located here. Traffic police are now sending letters to these departments to make it compulsory for their staff to wear helmets under their conduct rules. Police have already been conducting awareness drives at educational institutes and all the directives of the order are being followed.