The State Government has made it compulsory for all students and staff of colleges to wear helmets while driving two-wheelers.
A communiqué to this effect was sent by the Department of Higher Education on Wednesday to the Principals of all Government and private colleges of the State. The move was made in view of a large number of accidents taking place due to carelessness of students using bikes without helmets. As such, Odisha is listed as one of the highest causality States of the country due to road mishaps.
The college authorities have been asked to take appropriate action at their end and ensure that all students and staff riding two-wheeler vehicles use helmets. Earlier, Transport Commissioner Manoj Ahuja, in a letter to the Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department GK Dhal had stated that India is the second-largest producer of two-wheelers in the world producing nearly 70 per cent of the total vehicles.
The two-wheeler riders are the most vulnerable of all road users. Referring to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the Transport Commissioner said in his letter that a total of 32,318 (23.2%) two-wheeler riders were killed in accidents in 2012. Injuries to head and neck were the main causes of their deaths. So, a safety helmet is the most protective equipment used by motorcycle riders primarily to protect the head against impact.
The Commissionerate Polices of Pune, Allahabad and Bhopal cities have already made use of helmet compulsory for college students and got encouraging results, Ahuja added. Meanwhile, the Commissionerate Police of Twin City initiated a mass awareness campaign for helmet wearing in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.