Soon, helmet must for women

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

The Chandigarh Administration has decided to make the helmet mandatory for women two-wheeler riders. Exemption will be provided on medical grounds.

Sources said the decision was taken at a high-level meeting of officers, chaired by Secretary (Transport) KK Jindal.

The Administration will issue a draft notification and seek public opinion before issuing the final notification in this regard.

The decision has been taken in view of a notice issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Administration on a suo motu petition on the rising number of accidents involving women, who are exempt from wearing helmets on city roads. In the past three years, many women riding two-wheelers have lost their lives while 85 have sustained injuries.

The High Court also questioned how the UT Administration had exempted all women from wearing the headgear, saying that was there a difference between the skull of a male and a female? While Punjab and Haryana exempt only Sikh women from wearing helmets, the Chandigarh Administration has exempted all women. The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, permits state governments to make relaxation to some categories. The sources said the Administration had now decided to exempt only those women riders who were advised for not using the helmet on medical grounds or Sikh women wearing headgear.

The sources said the Administration had finalised the notification after examining the provisions made in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

Rajni Gupta, a resident of Sector 10, welcomed the decision, saying that it would save women from fatal accidents.

The UT Administration tried making the helmet compulsory for women in 2000, but after a protest, the order was withdrawn. Later, the Chandigarh Administration exempted all women from wearing the helmet.