Chandigarh traffic police will start issuing challans for women riders without a helmet starting today. The city police conducted a campaign ‘Helmet pehnaao Beti bachao’ last month under which it urged female riders to wear a helmet while riding a two-wheeler. Punjab and Haryana High Court have recently passed an order which states that wearing a helmet is mandatory for all women riders. Offenders now will have to pay a fine of Rs 300 while being caught wearing no helmet while riding. The second time violators will have to pay a double fine i.e. Rs 600. Multiple Sikh bodies will be protesting for the decision and the march started from Sector 34 Gurudwara to Governor’s house at 11 AM today. Shiromani Akali Dal said that the new rule is against Sikhism and they will protest every day in order to over turn the rule. The Akali Dal has been protesting against the new rule since July when the new rule was notified.
In order to avoid any confusion, the Police has cleared that Sikh women who wear turban have been exempted from wearing a helmet while riding a two-wheeler. Earlier, all Sikh women irrespective of the turban were exempted from wearing a helmet. The number of casualties taking place for not wearing a helmet while riding a two-wheeler has increased at an alarming rate in the past few years. While it has been mandatory for two-wheeler riders to wear a helmet, it is equally important to keep a check that riders wear a helmet having ISI mark for better safety and the other new rule by the authorities implement the same.
According to the data, 85 percent of road accident fatalities include two-wheeler riders. Now what remains to be seen is whether the rule gets changed with the protest of the Akali Dal or it remains the same. Stay tuned for more updates!
