Guwahati News Desk: With accidents involving two-wheelers on the rise in recent times, the Guwahati traffic police has decided to stringently enforce the wearing of helmets by pillion riders of two-wheelers. The wearing of helmets has been made compulsory for riders and pillion riders. The Guwahati traffic police have ramped up enforcement drive against traffic rule violators from December 1, 2021. The city traffic police are spreading awareness among people on the importance of wearing helmets with the theme Hum Do, Hamare Do Helmets.
While people have welcomed this move of the traffic police to encourage safer driving practices, they have also expressed concern over the sudden rise in the prices of helmets. Some businessmen, taking advantage of the enforcement drive by the traffic police, have hiked the prices of helmets. As a result, a helmet which was earlier available at Rs 700, now costs around Rs 1,000 and a helmet which earlier cost Rs 1,000, now costs Rs 1,500. A good protective helmet with ISI mark costs between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. There are also helmets which cost around Rs 500. But they do not offer much protection.
“For middle-class people like us, shelling out Rs 1,000 to buy a helmet is difficult. At the same time, we cannot afford to keep paying fines everytime we are caught without helmets. So while it is a good thing that the traffic police is strictly enforcing the rule, authorities concerned should also ensure that businessmen do not take advantage of the situation and charge exorbitant prices for helmets,” said a biker in Guwahati.
Meanwhile, the Kamrup (Metro) District Transport Office collected a fine of Rs 46,000 on the first day of the enforcement drive on December 1, 2021 while 277 cases were registered against traffic rule violators. An official of the DTO said, “We appeal to riders of Rapido, Uber and Ola bike services to ensure that their passengers wear helmets.”