Helmet must for pillion riders in Coimbatore from today, air horns not allowed

The Coimbatore City Police will enforce helmet rule for pillion riders from Monday (June 26). The violators will be fined ₹ 1,000 and they will be directed to attend a traffic safety awareness session at the traffic park on Dr. Balasundaram Road in the city for a week, the police said.

The Coimbatore City Police will enforce helmet rule for pillion riders from Monday (June 26). The violators will be fined ₹ 1,000 and they will be directed to attend a traffic safety awareness session at the traffic park on Dr. Balasundaram Road in the city for a week, the police said.

The police have also informed that air horns would not be allowed in vehicles from Monday and legal action would be taken against the violators. The move to enforce compulsory helmet for pillion riders was taken in a recent meeting of the District Road Safety Committee chaired by District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati.

Statistics shared by the police at the meeting showed that 23 out of 30 two-wheeler riders who lost their lives in accidents last month had not worn helmet. This triggered a discussion on the need to enforce helmet for pillion riders and the police faced criticism for not enforcing the rule strictly as per provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Asked why the police were not enforcing the rule strictly, a senior police officer told The Hindu that the police have been imposing the fine on young pillion riders whom they found riding two-wheelers in a negligent manner, without wearing helmet. 

The city police did not share statistics on the number of violations reported and fines levied on persons, both riders and pillion riders, who violated the rule in the current year.

Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan has instructed the police and traffic police wing to conduct vehicle checks to curb the use of air horns from Monday. A release said that teams comprising officials from the police, traffic police, and the pollution control board would conduct vehicle checks to identify whether air horns are used in vehicles, especially in buses, trucks and cars.