Hyderabad: In order to reduce road accidents and fatalities, Cyberabad traffic police have decided to revoke the licenses of those who drive without a helmet.
Besides levying penalty via e-challans, if two-wheeler riders and pillion riders are caught without wearing helmets, the police will now seize and revoke the licenses.
According to Section 206 (4) of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019, if caught for the first time, the license will be revoked for three months and if found guilty of not wearing the helmet for a second time, there will be a permanent revocation of the license.
Two-wheelers account for around 60 per cent of road accident deaths. A field study taken up by the Cyberabad police found that in most road accidents, the main reason for the loss of lives is due to ‘not-wearing a helmet’.
Pursuant to the same, vehicle inspections were intensified and around 31 lakh challans were issued last year.
However, the police observed that there has been no improvement in the number of riders using helmets. Hence, seven the police have set up check-posts on major roads in Cyberabad.
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The vehicle will be returned only after a helmet bearing the ISI seal is purchased and shown to the police. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SM Vijaykumar said about 25,000 motorists had made such purchases.
As per the RTA regulations, if a motorist is caught for the first time during a Drunken Drive inspection, their driving license can be revoked for three months and if the same person is found to be flouting the rule for a second time, the vehicle license can be permanently revoked.
To this effect, in 2019 and 2020, Road Transport Authority (RTA) officials recommended revoking licenses of 4319 motorists.
In the last two years, the traffic police also recommended revoking the licenses of 327 motorists for drunken driving.
