PUNE: A national coalition of road safety NGOs have written a joint letter to the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari urging him to immediately bring into force the amended helmet law (section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act), which removes the power of states to provide an exemption in the use of helmets. Most states, owing to public pressure, have been dragging their feet on implementation of the new provisions.
The letter was written on December 20 by CUTS International, Parisar, Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Save Life, Consumer Voice and Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG). As per the letter, ‘The amended section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act rightly removes the power of the States to provide any additional exemptions, a provision that has been and clearly continues to be abused, much to the detriment of the safety of people and the objective of the country to halve road traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2020. Section 129 has not yet been brought in force.”
Sanskriti Menon of CEE said, “This loophole is being used by states such as Gujarat to provide exemptions, even though the Supreme Court has issued directions for the strict implementation of the helmet rule.”
“Recently, Gujarat issued a controversial exemption to the use of helmets in urban areas, which has been criticised severely by road safety experts,” stated the letter.
According to city-based NGO Parisar, “As per the latest report on road accidents in the country published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, fatalities of two-wheeler users stood at 55,336, with 43,614 of them due to non-use of helmets, with most of the victims between the ages of 18-35. The WHO says that helmets reduce the chance of a fatality by 40% and severe injury by 70% in a crash.”
Chief Operating Officer of Consumer Voice Ashim Sanyal said, “Even at low speeds, in the event of a crash, a two-wheeler rider can suffer severe injuries. Recovery from an injury can take months or years, and in addition to the loss of income and high medical bills, can take an emotional and psychological toll on the family.”
