The State Government has directed the police and the Transport Commissioner to implement the rule of suspension of Driving Licence (DL) for driving two-wheeler without helmet stringently.
Transport Secretary Madhusudan Padhi in a letter to the DGP and Transport Commissioner requested to take steps for suspension of DL of the offender in case of helmetless driving and also closely monitor its implementation.
The two officials have been asked to submit a district-wise report on suspension of DL for violation of helmet law during 2019 and January to October, 2020 for appraisal of the Supreme Court Committee within seven days.“During 2019, in the State, two-wheelers were involved in 4,688 road accidents out of total 11,064 road accidents in which 2,398 persons died out of total 5,333 deaths.
Out of the 2,398 persons who died, 2,156 were not wearing helmets at the time of the mishaps Wearing a helmet could have saved many lives,” Padhi mentioned in the letter. “As per the information received, during the year 2019 about 8.5 lakh persons have been detected by police and Odisha Motor Vehicles Department (OMVD) officers violating the helmet law.
As per Section 194 D of the MV Act, whoever drives a motorcycle or causes or allows a motorcycle to be driven in contravention of the provisions of Section 129 or the rules of regulation made thereunder shall be punishable with a fine of Rs 1,000 and he shall be disqualified for holding licence for a period of three months,” he added in the letter.