MUMBAI: On the first day of their campaign against those who ride pillion without wearing a helmet, the traffic police issued challans to 3,421 individuals across the city, though 70% of them were from south Mumbai. The police intend to suspend their licences for three months and fine them Rs 500 each.
For two-wheelers, it is compulsory for both rider and pillion to wear helmets under section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, said DCP (traffic) RT Roushan. He said it was unfortunate that this law is followed more in the breach.
Thursday’s action followed the traffic police’s May 25 warning to pillion riders of action unless they wore helmets from June 9 onwards. In other words, the police warned that they would strictly enforce the law after a grace period. Thursday’s crackdown also included challans to 2,334 two-wheeler riders.
Of the 3,421 pillion riders caught, 2,100 were found in the island city (mainly in Colaba, Marine Drive, Azad Maidan, Kalbadevi, Dongri, Tardeo, Malabar Hill, Byculla, Wadala and Nagpada), 454 in the western suburbs (mainly the Bandra-Santa Cruz belt and the Goregaon-Dahisar belt), and 436 and 431 in the eastern and central suburbs. Among individual areas, the highest number of pillion riders caught were from Bhoiwada (398), followed by Kalbadevi (290) and MRA Marg (274).
Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey has urged Mumbaikars to follow the helmet rule and obey traffic cops. As per RTO data, over 47% of deaths caused by road accidents in Mumbai involve two-wheelers. In 2020 (last for when data is available), 350 people died in 1,812 road accidents in the city.
