Pune: Over 1,000 two-wheeler riders died in 5 years, only 3 had helmets on, says police

The police believe that two-wheeler deaths could be avoided if city residents became serious about using helmets while riding a two-wheeler.

In 2017, as many as 212 two-wheeler riders were killed in accidents in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Notwithstanding the opposition from some groups, the Pune Police seems to be determined to stringently implement the provision related to mandatory use of helmets by two-wheeler riders under the Motor Vehicles Act. “This time, the drive will continue till we achieve maximum compliance… and it will be for a longer period of time,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Tejaswi Satpute told The Indian Express.

The police believe that two-wheeler deaths could be avoided if city residents became serious about using helmets while riding a two-wheeler.

According to the data from the traffic police, in the last five years, more than 1,000 two-wheeler riders have died on roads in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Only three of them were wearing helmets at the time of accidents. Many of them suffered serious head injuries. They either died instantly or went into vegetative state, say police officers.
In 2018, as many as 182 two-wheeler riders died in Pune, of which only one was wearing a helmet. Figures from Pimpri-Chinchwad police are not available as the police said they were still collating the information.

In 2017, as many as 212 two-wheeler riders were killed in accidents in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. None of them had worn a helmet, said police. A total of 417 riders also suffered serious injuries in 2017. In 2016, 185 two-wheeler riders had died and 369 suffered serious injuries, said police. None of them was wearing a helmet. In 2015, 240 riders had died and 401 were grievously injured. Only one of them was wearing a helmet.

Similarly, in 2014, 218 riders had died, of which only one was wearing a helmet. “The figures show as to why there is need for the police to strictly implement the MVA Act,” said Satpute. Regarding the opposition from a certain group after the “campaign for helmets” was announced by the Pune Police, Satpute said: “We had not actually announced any campaign. We had said that we will be stringently implementing the Motor Vehicles Act, which was already being implemented,” Satpute added.

The police are taking dual measures to tackle the problem. On one hand, they are penalising two-wheeler riders without helmets, while on the other hand, they are spreading awareness through counselling sessions.
From January 1 till Monday evening, the police have fined more than 50,000 two-wheeler riders Rs 500 each. “We have collected on the spot fines from some of them while some have paid fines during the counselling sessions,” said Satpute.

Counselling sessions, a concept adopted by the Pune police, are being held in Shivajinagar area. “The counselling is conducted by specialised doctors, traffic experts and senior police officers, among others. Also, the counselling sessions are sometimes addressed by family members of those who had lost their lives or were in a vegetative state after road accidents,” Satpute said.

Story continues below this ad

The doctors, Satpute said, highlight the dangers of not protecting one’s head and how some of the accident victims lost their lives even after a simple fall. “The experts explain about kinds of standardised helmets and how to tie them tightly so that they don’t fall off during accidents,” the deputy commissioner of police said.

Dr Anand Jagdale, who headed YCM hospital for two decades, said: “People who oppose helmets should see the plight of two-wheeler riders who suffer injuries. Either they die on the spot or they lose their mental balance if they survive. Only a few recover, but several of them remain in vegetative state. Helmet haters should meet the the families of such people. Only then they will realise the importance of helmets.”

Meanwhile, the group of people opposing the helmet drive by the police are gearing up to intensify their agitation. Welcoming the statement of District Guardian Minister Girish Bapat that helmets should be made mandatory on highways and not in narrow lanes and bylanes of the city, Vivek Velenkar of the Helmet Sakti Virodi Kruti Samati, said: “This is what we are demanding. Helmets should be made mandatory on highways where the speeding vehicles are threat to the lives of two-wheeler riders. In the narrow lanes and bylanes of the city, where the speed of vehicles is not high, helmets should be made optional.”

Manoj Dattatrye More

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram