Caught without a helmet? Spend two-hours at police station and get earful from ghost

The awareness videos contain skits that are intended to make the rider realise that wearing a helmet can save their life

Mumbai: In a bid to ensure that two-wheeler riders in the city do not flout the helmet rule while riding, the traffic police department has come up with an agonising solution to teach violators a lesson. If caught without a helmet, the rider will not only pay a fine and have their licence suspended for three months but also be subjected to watching two-hour awareness videos in which a ‘ghost’ will educate the violator on the consequences of helmetless riding.

Mumbai, India - March 18, 2022: Police officials check motorists for rule violations during a Nakabandi on the occasion of Holi festival at Juhu, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, March 18, 2022. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

After filling form ‘A’ with details such as their name, address, phone number, and the location, time, and date, the violator will be escorted to the nearest traffic chowkie to watch these videos.The awareness videos contain skits that are intended to make the rider realise that wearing a helmet can save their life. One of the skits depicts a grieving family that has lost its sole breadwinner in an accident just because they forgot to wear a helmet.

Another video contains an elaborate interview with a ghost of a two-wheeler rider who is repenting and narrating that a little caution from his side of wearing a helmet could have saved him and instead of rushing to meet his family and meeting with an accident on the way, he could have actually been with them.

The ghost rues the fact that just because of that mistake, he cannot be with his family any more, nor can he hug his child or spend time with his parents. Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic HQ) said that they have been penalising at least 2,000 two-wheeler riders a day for helmetless riding, the number has not decreased.

“To create awareness, we have started showing these videos depicting the consequences of helmetless riding. The videos do not contain violent images but include images and interviews with a ghost explaining his regret of not wearing a helmet etc,” said Roushan adding, “On the first day, we have shown the videos to 79 riders.”

If a rider does not turn up to watch the videos, the traffic police would send reminders to them through text messages to attend the session. The traffic police recorded 75,000 challans against helmetless riders last month, said Roshan. After the violator has watched the videos, they would be given another form ‘B’ which would be an acknowledgment of having attended the awareness session by the traffic police.

The traffic police also has plans to screen videos on traffic rules at schools and colleges as a majority of road crashes involve teenage victims or young riders.