he joint enforcement drive by the Road Transport Authorities (RTA) and the traffic police on helmet wearing took off with vigour here on Thursday. In total, 2,732 cases were booked, with RTA registering 1,260 cases and the police recorded 1,472 cases. While fine collected by RTA was Rs. 1,26,000, it was Rs. 1,48,700 by the police. While, RTA deputed about 16 teams across the district, all the 10 Circle-Inspectors and 24 Sub-Inspectors from the Traffic Department were on the job.
According to Mr. A.H. Khan, RTO- Anakapalle, 75 per cent of the two-wheeler commuters were found wearing helmets.
“The rule has been present since long and moreover we have worked on an elaborate awareness campaign. It was also enforced couple of times, before being hastily removed. And that is the reason why many were found wearing helmets, especially in the city limits,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K. Mahendra Patrudu.
However, many, especially the youth were found violating the rule and were taken to task by the waiting police and RTA officials. A few of the smart guys even were seen zipping down the road in acrobatic style with the intention of evading the checks.
The fine amount was fixed at Rs. 100, but it will be increased if found violating it habitually. “We intend to increase the fine to Rs. 300, if caught second time and on the third occasion we will seize the vehicle,” said Mr. Khan.
While the RTA has a system to check on repeat violations, as everything is fed in a data bank, the police are in the process of developing such a data bank.
“We intend to develop a databank of our own and integrate it with the RTA site. Everything will be fed into the server and officers with I-pads can access the site and ascertain the details of the violator, as we intend to feed the Aadhaar number or some other identification number in the fine challan,” said ACP (Traffic) K. Prabhakar.
The helmet enforcement drive was scheduled to be imposed last week, but Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao had postponed it.
According to sources in the police, the rule was suddenly imposed again, as there was pressure from the High Court.
However, the frequent dilly-dallying had upset many of the commuters. “The government had been postponing the enforcement since January. Hope the rule will continue to stay from today,” said Prashant Kumar, a bank employee.
Helmets are also available in the market and those who have not purchased one and do it by Saturday, as the enforcement will be more strict, said Mr. K. Prabhakar.
We intend to increase the fine to Rs. 300, if caught second time and on the third occasion,
we will seize the vehicle
— A.H. Khan, RTO (Anakapalle)
