Minister voluntarily pays fine for helmet-less ride

Pramod Madhwaraj sets an example for errant drivers.

Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj recently paid a fine of ₹100 for riding a motorcycle without a helmet in a village in Udupi district.

Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, recently paid a fine of ₹ 100 for riding a motorcycle without a helmet at Karje village in Udupi district.

The Minister rode a motorcycle for a few minutes and the video-clippings of Mr. Madhwaraj riding the motorcycle without helmet went viral on the social media. These photographs were also posted on WhatsApp groups.

'Law-abiding citizen'

Replying to queries from presspersons during his weekly phone-in programme here on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Sanjeev M. Patil, said that Mr. Madhwaraj suo motu contacted the police and paid the fine on Friday (November 10). “He is a law abiding citizen,” he said.

Dr. Patil also said that in the last week, the police had booked 848 cases against people not wearing helmets in the district, while 170 cases were booked against vehicles using shrill horns.

Later, on receiving complaints that two-wheelers and other vehicles had been parked in front of shops and business complexes obstructing the movement of other vehicles on the Mosque Road and the Vidyasamudra Road here, Dr. Patil himself visited these places and got these roads cleared.