THE absence of any mechanism for the traffic wing of the police because of legal inadequacy and for the Standards and Testing Institutions and the Road Transport Authority because of logistical inadequacy to check whether the helmets that, especially, pillion riders wear are standard is gravely worrying. When the police personnel deployed on traffic management duty find that such helmets are risky, they only advise the motorcyclists and riders to wear good helmets that can protect them if accidents take place. The national standards agency runs mobile courts against the sales of substandard helmets. The agency, for an example, has run 11 mobile courts, filed 12 cases and realised Tk 335,000 in penalty from distributors on charge of selling substandard helmets. With an increased use of motorcycle in ridesharing services, introduced in 2016, the situation paints a grave picture. There are about 3.89 million registered motorcycles in Bangladesh and about a million of them are registered in Dhaka. An Accident Research Institute teacher says that the chance for accident death would come down by about 40 per cent and for injury by about 70 per cent if motorcyclists and pillion riders wore good helmets. The Road Transport Authority chair says that substandard helmets break easily and injure the wearers.
The standard specification set in 1986 lays out that protective helmets for motorcycle riders must have a shell, comfort padding, protective padding, edge trim, padding, retention system, neck curtain, headband, chin strap, and cradle, among some other components. But many helmets available on the market are substandard. Sellers say that prices generally range between Tk 180 and Tk 9,000 and while motorcyclists offering ridesharing wear expensive helmets, they often buy low-price ones for pillion riders. The situation carries further worry as, keeping to a study jointly conducted by the World Bank and the Accident Research Institute in 2021, 33.91 per cent of motorcycle riders in the capital city claimed that they had always worn helmets. While this shows that a huge number of motorcycle riders are, thus, left unprotected, about 65 per cent of the motorcyclists and 47 per cent of pillion riders wear half-faced helmets and 30 per cent of the motorcyclists and pillion riders wear open-faced or hat helmets. The proposition warrants that the government runs awareness campaigns to create awareness among riders of the benefits of wearing good protective helmets. But passing blame onto the riders would in no way resolve the issue. The situation, rather, warrants that the government make changes in the laws and regulations to effectively deal with the issue.
The government must, therefore, empower the police personnel deployed for traffic management by changing the law to ensure that riders use good helmets that can protect the wearers in cases of accidents. The Road Transport Authority must also be empowered, with the required human resources and, if required, changes in the regulations, to check against the use of substandard helmets.
Sign up to exclusive daily email
Quota-system of job distribution needs to be reformed
Dhaka must protest at Delhi’s insulting Bangladesh war narrative
Illegal construction in the Kaptai Lake
Closure of jute mills now not a wise decision
Govt also has helmet issues to shore up for motorcycle riders
No end to BCL misdeeds as authorities remain negligent
Strict regulation must for private health facilities
LNG import reliance, renewable energy reluctance must stop
Practice of unnecessary overseas tours must stop
Editor: Nurul Kabir , Published by the Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan on behalf of Media New Age Ltd. Hamid Plaza (4th floor), 300/5/A/1, Bir Uttam CR Datta Road, Hatirpool, Dhaka-1205. PABX: +8802-9632245-48. Fax: +8802-9632250, E-mail: [email protected]
Sign up to exclusive daily email
© 2022 Media New Age Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Developed By HTG Solution Ltd.