R. Balu of Chokkampudur is among parents who are on the hunt for BIS-marked helmets for their school-going children. The 45-year-old man wants a couple of helmets to protect both his sons from head injuries. When he applies the brake, Balu’s helmet hits his elder son’s (pillion rider) nose or head of his four-year-old son seated in front of him.
S. Ilavarasan, who is into helmet business for 35 years, said that there is no helmet manufacturer in the country who makes helmets for children till 12 years.
“It is not possible to manufacture BIS standard helmets for children as the weight of such helmets should be at least 950 grams,” he said.
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According to him, children cannot wear such heavy helmets and that even the leading manufacturers make helmets for children only without BIS mark as they are not meeting the weight parameter. “Parents buy non-BIS mark helmets in a bid to get closer to compliance of the High Court and government’s direction,” he added. But, whether such helmets would serve the purpose remain unanswered.
Top police and transport department officers said that children, too, would have to wear helmets with BIS mark as direction from their higher up clearly states that the rider and pillion-rider should wear helmets. However, field level enforcement officers say they would have to be lenient in such instances as parents have no place to get helmet with BIS mark for their wards.
Alongside preparedness for enforcement from July 1, police and transport department officers are also getting prepared to face the heat from defaulting motorists as those who bought helmets are much lesser compared to the two-wheeler population. A key challenge they would be facing is identifying original BIS marked helmets differentiating them from the fake ones.
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Officers, who checked a few helmets sold alongside the road, added that locally made helmets, too, had bogus BIS marks and other specifications – that match the markings of Bureau of Indian Standards. They add that there is no proper mechanism for identifying fake helmets.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) T.K. Rajasekaran told The Hindu that they would also initiate action under Motor Vehicle Act against persons who don’t wear the strap and buckle their helmet properly and on those who carry their helmet only to wear on sighting a cop.