Maharashtra: 16 lakh bikers fined for riding without helmet, over Rs 80 crore collected in fines

Police say many citizens do not wear helmets despite knowing that it can save lives

A helmet can save a two-wheeler rider's life and is mandatory under the law, but there are way too many reckless bikers in the state, official numbers show. In the first five months of this year, the traffic department fined 16.15 lakh people for helmetless riding and collected over Rs 80 crore in fines.

As per data shared by the traffic department, Pune accounts for nearly half the violations with 7.45 cases, followed by Mumbai's 3.9 lakh infractions and 78,346 cases in Thane between January and May.

Officials said the actual number of helmetless riders would be much more since the numbers are from just 10 cities/districts.

Officials said so many people do not consider a helmet an integral part of riding a two-wheeler despite being aware that bikers have survived serious accidents just because of a helmet.

Fines alone can't save lives on the road, they said, adding that citizens must cooperate with the authorities.

The scant regard for safety comes at a heavy cost, show the numbers. In 2020, a total of 4,878 helmetless bikers lost their lives in Maharashtra. Of these, 1,510 were riding pillion.

Bhushan Upadhyay, ADGP-Traffic, said, "The government, police always give the message to the people through awareness programmes that ‘a helmet is for your safety'. I appeal to all bikers to wear helmets."