Crackdown on parents, kids riding without helmet to start on Kolkata roads this week
Times of India | 22 November 2024
KOLKATA: In their campaign to ensure safety for two-wheeler-riders, especially kids, Kolkata Traffic Police has decided to penalise parents from this week if they or their children are repeatedly found without helmets, even after being counselled on safe riding practices. Officers pointed out it would not be a blanket move, and that both counselling and penalisation would depend on the gravity of the situation.
“More CCTV cameras are being installed outside schools under the Nirbhaya project. The footage will help us find regular violators,” said a senior Lalbazar officer, adding they also planned to have students as well as school officials as “monitors” to check on people wearing helmets.
“We are often told helmets for children are not available. It’s not true and the excuse will no longer work,” said an officer. Police also laid down the specifications for helmets: only ISIcertified ones, with an average weight between 700 gm and 1.2 kg.
Apart from holding sessions for students to develop “traffic sense”, police plan to seek inputs from students, teachers, principals and parents on steps to increase road safety and ease traffic.
“While traffic guards are holding sessions at schools individually, we plan some central pro grammes on increasing helmet rule adherence. We are mapping schools where maximum students arrive on two-wheelers,” said an officer.
Officers are firm on continuing the campaign near schools and beyond. “We have been able to increase the compliance level owing to two important factors. The first is the use of advanced technology that has kept human interventions to a minimum. In all, over 650 cameras are recording helmet violations following which we are sending text messages to offenders. Secondly, the rise in fines has made people cautious. The steep amounts make people thunk twice before violating the law,” said an officer.
“Our crackdown on helmetless rides even during the festive season helped us increase compliance.”
But reports and spot visits show a lot is left to work on. “Those riding two-wheelers for long distance follow the helmet norms more than than moving around within their neighbourhoods. This problem is especially acute near slums and some places in Kolkata,” said an officer.
Sergeants also complained about the way some riders wore the helmets. “People tend to forget that we wear helmets for safety and not just to escape fines. Merely wearing a helmet without strapping it on or wearing a cricket helmet does not serve the purpose,” said an officer.