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NEW DELHI: Almost a month after an expert committee recommended stricter penalties for traffic rule violators, the road transport and highways ministry is proposing higher fines for such road users. It has proposed increasing the fine from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for not wearing helmet while driving a two-wheeler.
The proposal seems to have been taken after road safety activists and advocates pressed for stricter norms to reduce head injuries in road mishaps and to check fatalities.
Figures recently disclosed by AIIMS trauma centre had shown that at least one-third of the 50,000 injured victims it gets every year come with head injuries. Women and children have a high fatality rate of almost 25%.
Head of AIIMS trauma centre M C Misra said the hospital got between 120-150 injury cases every day.
"While pedestrians are the main victims of road accidents, we have huge number of cases of head injuries primarily because the two-wheeler drivers and the pillion riders don't wear helmets. Women and children, who often don't wear helmets, are the most vulnerable," he added.
"It's strange that even as we treat women and men equal, society seems to have little concern for the safety of women. It opposes women wearing helmets. We need to spread awareness among women," said Rohit Baluja, president of Institute for Road Traffic Institute (IRTE).
A senior ministry official said that the stricter penalty norm could face a real test from some quarters considering stiff opposition to the proposal of making helmet wearing mandatory. He added that the ministry has also proposed a fine of Rs 1,000 for use of mobile phones or not wearing seat belts while driving.
Source: Soon, bigger fines for riders without helmet - The Times of India
The proposal seems to have been taken after road safety activists and advocates pressed for stricter norms to reduce head injuries in road mishaps and to check fatalities.
Figures recently disclosed by AIIMS trauma centre had shown that at least one-third of the 50,000 injured victims it gets every year come with head injuries. Women and children have a high fatality rate of almost 25%.
Head of AIIMS trauma centre M C Misra said the hospital got between 120-150 injury cases every day.
"While pedestrians are the main victims of road accidents, we have huge number of cases of head injuries primarily because the two-wheeler drivers and the pillion riders don't wear helmets. Women and children, who often don't wear helmets, are the most vulnerable," he added.
"It's strange that even as we treat women and men equal, society seems to have little concern for the safety of women. It opposes women wearing helmets. We need to spread awareness among women," said Rohit Baluja, president of Institute for Road Traffic Institute (IRTE).
A senior ministry official said that the stricter penalty norm could face a real test from some quarters considering stiff opposition to the proposal of making helmet wearing mandatory. He added that the ministry has also proposed a fine of Rs 1,000 for use of mobile phones or not wearing seat belts while driving.
Source: Soon, bigger fines for riders without helmet - The Times of India
. hope they realise the importance of safety that only a good helmet provides
When my uncle's car got rear-ended by a BMTC bus, the insurance surveyor offered us replacement of new parts on the front, where there were no damages, IF we gave him a CUT of 3k.. 
My uncle asked him to back off and claimed only the required parts.. And, we ended up having to pay 12k off our hand.. The same guy later told us that had we taken his option, we would've had to pay just 2500.. Buggers.. Best part.. That damned BMTC guy walked away without any consequences because we didn't want our car to be at the station for months on end, only to find it nicked by petty thieves passing in and out of the very police station.. Wish they'd change the Motor Vehicle Act with much more rigorous punishment and pass the bill soon.. 
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