Members of the Friends of Police Organisation of the Coimbatore City Police on Friday took out a motorcycle rally to generate awareness on the need to wear helmets.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pravesh Kumar flagged off the rally from the Race Course police station compound.
He said that two-wheeler riders should inculcate the habit of wearing helmets as safety was paramount than anything else.
Co-ordinator of the Friends of Police S. Senthilkumar said that the objective of the rally was to make two-wheeler riders comply with the rule on their own and not out of enforcement.
Rule 129 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules and 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act calls for compulsory wearing of helmet.
However, owing to public representations, the rule is not being enforced strictly on two-wheeler riders.
Statistics
A cursory glance of accident statistics revealed that in 2010 as many as 193 out of the 294 persons died in road accidents were two-wheeler riders without helmets.
Similarly in 2011, there were 1,126 total accidents and 254 lives were lost, of which 190 were two-wheeler riders without helmets.
In 2012 till December 18, there were 1,133 accidents claiming 258 lives, of which 176 were two-wheeler riders without helmets.
The particulars are not inclusive of those who sustained grievous and simple injuries in accidents.