No more will Bengaluru’s cops be seen donning their trademark half-helmets.
In addition to cracking down civilians driving without helmets, the Bengaluru traffic police have decided to strike down heavily on uniformed cops travelling helmetless or with non-certified helmets from next month.
Starting February 2018, the city traffic police will send out teams to conduct surprise checks at police stations and other places where police forces are deployed to ensure that all of them use helmets that bear the ISI mark, reported the Times of India.
Speaking to the publication, additional commissioner of police (traffic) R Hitendra, emphasised how the road safety drive to promote helmets must kickstart with police officers themselves.
“On the morning of February 1, traffic police will start checking police officers across the city. Apart from stopping the police on two-wheelers, our personnel will visit police stations and other workplaces to ensure that our colleagues have helmets certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Policemen will have to pay a fine if they are found using helmets without ISI mark,” he said.
The last day for the general public as well as cops to buy a helmet with the ISI mark is January 31 said city police commissioner T Suneel Kumar.
This move has come into effect following the police department’s announcements to make certified helmets by the Bureau of Indian Standards mandatory for two-wheeler riders as well as their pillions.
The initiative aims to phase out the use of helmets that do not cover or protect the head of the rider fully. Officers and civilians caught in violation of the helmet rule will be fined Rs 100.
Until now, most officers have admitted to using locally-sourced khaki or white helmets with the police logo on the front, which lacked the ISI mark. The government too until now, supplied these cops riot helmets which are used while controlling mobs or violent protests.
Though the traffic police department’s move has been lauded by most officials as a welcome move, there are concerns about the month-end deadline.
“We need more time to buy a proper helmet as helmets with ISI mark are in huge demand now, and it might affect the supply,” an officer told TOI.
Source: The Better India
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