Rajkot: Road Transport Minister of Gujarat R C Faldu today indicated that the decision to make headgear/helmet wearing voluntary could be reverted in the coming days.

Talking to newsmen here he said that the citizen’s of Gujarat should change their mentality about helmet which was for the safety of the wearer only. He said that the decision to make helmet wearing voluntarily was a temporary one.

He said that the National Road Safety Council has written a letter to the state government seeking clarification about the decision regarding helmet. ‘We have discussed the issue with the CM and a decision would be taken about it soon.

Notably, on December 4, in a significant decision for commoners in Gujarat, the state government had decided to do away with the provision of compulsory use of helmet for two wheeler riders in the urban and semi urban areas ie in the limits of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities.

However, despite making helmet use voluntary in the cities and towns, the wearing of the headgear was kept compulsory during rides on national or state highways or Panchayat made roads.
The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting of the Rupani government held that day. Faldu had then told that people in the cities were making pleas about removing the mandatory use of helmets. Though the state government was of the view that use of helmets saved lives by protecting the riders from head injuries yet owing to oppose of the provision under the Motor Vehicles Act by the citizens and also through social media, it was decided to do away with it in the urban areas in the local urban bodies limits after in-depth consideration of the issue. It has been made voluntary from today.

Notably, Gujarat was among the first states in the country to reduce the fines of traffic violations stipulated by the new Motor Vehicles Act in September this year. Under the new act not wearing the helmet attracted a fine of Rs 500. Faldu had then said that people were arguing that they faced difficulty in carrying helmets while going to buy vegetables from a local market or places like crematoriums.

DeshGujarat