Helmets compulsory for riders, pillion on highways from today

Panaji: From Thursday, wearing of helmets by both riders will be compulsory only on highways.
Transport director Arun Desai on Wednesday told TOI that due to constraints, the department will initially enforce compulsory helmets for riders and pillion riders only on national highways. Helmets will be made compulsory on all roads at a later date, Desai said, but declined to set a time frame.
Last month the transport department had said helmets would be compulsory for
both riders on all roads in
the state.
On Monday transport minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar had said the government would make wearing of helmets compulsory for both riders only on highways probably for the first year of implementation.
The transport director said that the helmet rule exists under Section 129 of the Indian Motor Vehicle Act and that the department will simply be implementing it. The penalty for not wearing helmet is only Rs 100 as the offence falls under the category of “general offence”.
The transport department is keen on making wearing helmets compulsory as between 2010 and 2013, the percentage of two-wheeler riders dying in road accidents rose from 55% to 67%. This led to the theme for this year’s road safety week being “Use your head, wear helmet”. For the same period, the annual figure of road fatalities in Goa actually decreased from 311 in 2010 to 261 in 2013.
Desai said statistics not only show that two-wheelers account for most of the accidents in Goa, but also show that the chances of survival increase by 70% if the two-wheeler rider and pillion rider are wearing helmets.