HYDERABAD: Six months from now, the city police will begin enforcing the helmet-for-pillion-riders rule with some exceptions.

The police, however, had not yet decided what these relaxations would be, said outgoing Traffic Police Additional Commissioner A.K. Khan here on Thursday.

"Now that most people riding two-wheelers are wearing helmets and the concept has gained acceptance from the public, we want to implement helmet rule for pillion riders as well," Mr. Khan said. Traffic police began enforcing the helmet rule stringently some two years ago.

The rule is being successfully implemented in cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Mumbai. The fact that pillion riders constituted 35 per cent of victims in road accidents involving two-wheelers is the compelling reason for introducing helmets for pillion riders too. "Wearing helmets would have saved these precious lives," the Additional Commissioner opined.

He said there was no need to make any special law on the matter as the rule was already incorporated under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicle Act-1988. Fine amount for violation was Rs.100. In the backdrop of increasing number of deaths of pedestrians in road accidents, the Traffic Police asked the MCH authorities to select two important stretches to discipline jaywalkers. Railings would be erected along the pavements or on the medians to restrict pedestrians from crossing the road at their will.

Police suggested trying it out on Raj Bhavan Road and another stretch in Secunderabad on an experimental basis. Mr. Khan said railings were mounted on the pavements in Abids earlier but were removed in the name of beautifying the roads. "Such actions are turning out to be mistakes and controlling jaywalking might help reduce death of pedestrians," he remarked.

On private buses choking city roads, he said the Government had decided to allot land for depots on the city outskirts along with 10 terminals for trucks.

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