Appealing to the college students and private sector employees to wear helmets, Inspector General and Commissioner of Police of Madurai City Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal has written to the educational institution heads to cooperate with the police in bringing down fatal cases.
There are 29 colleges and three major private industries in the city police limits. About a fortnight ago, the police had announced stern action against those who flouted traffic rules. The Madras High Court has also asked for strict enforcement.
Instead of just imposing fines, the city traffic police decided to educate people by explaining the benefits of wearing helmet. Encouraging those who were wearing helmets, the police gave them flowers and chocolates as a token of appreciation, while sending the message that the police were not keen on collecting fines alone.
While a majority of two-wheeler riders have started wearing helmets, the message on the safety aspect must reach the rest, police said.
Two days back, a 17-year-old boy, studying in a city college in Teppakulam was killed when an autoricksahw hit his two-wheeler at Vandiyur. Since he did not wear a helmet, severe head injury led to his instant death, police said.
The Commissioner has asked the college heads to ask their students to wear helmets.Employees of private companies were also told to wear helmets and bring down the number of fatal road accidents.
For a city like Madurai, the number of fatal accidents figured around 120 to 130 every year. “If motorcyclists followed safe driving practices, the number of cases will come down and the city can experience happy motoring,” Mr. Aggarwal said.
