Helmets for women: Will start challaning from August, says Chandigarh SSP
The Chandigarh administration through a notification on July 6 amended the Chandigarh Motor Vehicle rules, 1990, making it mandatory for all women riders, including pillion, to wear a helmet.
The Chandigarh traffic police will begin challaning women two-wheeler riders flouting the compulsory helmet rule from August.
While not mentioning any specific date, Chandigarh senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Shashank Anand said the awareness drive will continue for some days and confirmed that challaning will begin in August.
The Chandigarh administration through a notification on July 6 amended the Chandigarh Motor Vehicle rules, 1990, making it mandatory for all women riders, including pillion, to wear a helmet. Only turbaned Sikh women have been exempted.
Amid objections by Sikh bodies, police have so far been concentrating on holding drives to make citizens aware about the new rule.
SSP Anand has been at the forefront of such campaigns. He along with other senior officers has been distributing freebies to women riders at busy junctions to encourage them to wear helmets.
“We are working on finalising the date to implement the new rule. Right now I can just say that we will start challaning the violators in August,” he said.
Anand said with new academic session starting in colleges, the department will hold awareness workshops in colleges for now. “Coaching centres with high footfall will also be approached,” he said.
While first-time offenders have to pay Rs 300 fine, it gets doubled for second offence and the driving licence gets suspended.
In neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, all Sikh women can ride two-wheelers without helmets. Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, has opposed the UT notification, stating that “no court or any government authority had the right to define a Sikh.” Chandigarh administrator VP Singh Badnore has refused to intervene in the matter.