To avoid hefty challans, motorists opt for helmets

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 8

As the State Transport Ministry has finally decided to implement the amended Motor Vehicles Act in the state, residents in the city have geared up to prevent themselves from paying hefty fines. Within a week the sale of helmets has surged in the city. Dealers said: “Not only the demand has increased among men but also among women.”

Dharam Lal, a shopkeeper said: “ For the past 2-3 days his store is empty as the helmets, including branded and of local quality were sold in the last week of last month”.

Pointing towards his empty store, he also stated that even after putting orders in advance, he couldn’t receive the new stock from Delhi-based dealers, as the demands have also expanded in other cities too.

Likewise, Sachin Wadhera, an auto dealer, said: “The demand has mostly raised for the helmets worn by women. Within days of introduction of Motor Vehicles Act, the vendors told him that commuters in sizeable number were visiting their stalls to purchase the helmets, women being in the majority.” He said: “The sale has increased up to 20-30 per cent.”

It’s not just shopkeepers selling helmets who are doing a brisk business, the sale of helmets by a roadside vendor have also picked up.

Shayam Lal, a roadside vendor said: “ I have been selling 10-15 helmets these days on a daily basis. Earlier I managed to sell only 2-3 helmets. Besides, just to prevent themselves from the traffic police owners of two-wheelers are purchasing helmets of inferior quality, only a few are not compromising with their safety.”

As the traffic police, deployed at various chowks, the challans were majorly issued to the offenders sans helmets. Notably, revising the newly introduced Motor Vehicles Act, the state government has kept Rs 1,000 as challan fee for the offenders riding two-wheelers without helmets.