Down south in Bangalore, issues related to the safety standards of helmets are on a boil between motorcycle riders and Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP). This comes to the courtesy of the enforcement of Section 129 in Motor Vehicles Act of 1998, which dictates the definition of a protective headgear while riding a motorcycle and enforces its compulsion as well. On the basis of the above mentioned law, the Authorities have banned the use of Non-ISI and Half faced helmets. Although the issue of “Half faced helmet” being banned has also left a lot of riders worried but the big rage is regarding the use of high-quality NON-ISI helmets having ECE, DOT, SNELL and other international safety certifications, termed as illegal;Because earlier Bengaluru Traffic Police themselves had confirmed the use of internationally certified helmets as legal.
This “U-turn” from the Authorities is troublesome for a lot of riders who have better quality helmets at their hand and don’t want to purchase a relatively lower safety ISI certified helmet. This morning, in response to the queries of several riders, the traffic commissioner responded on Twitter by redirecting the issue as the result of the enforcement of following laws:
This whole issue is a good example of either “not enough communication” between different departments of Authorities or lack of proper information with the transport department of the state of Karnataka, regarding the safety of internationally certified helmets.
In a more recent tweet, the commissioner has said that he will clarify this whole situation about “NON-ISI helmets being less safe than internationally certified helmets”.We, at BikesMedia, hope that the Bengaluru traffic police too can realize why an AGV helmet is better than a Steelbird ;) For all the latest development on this issue stay tuned to BikesMedia.
By: Yetnesh Dubey