Beware! Odisha RTO Slaps Rs 25K On Minor For Riding Scooter, 1K Fine On Helmet Less Pillion

Bhubaneswar: With Odisha ranking high in the country in terms of road fatalities for not wearing helmets, the State enforcement authorities- Odisha Police and Road Transport Authorities- have upped the ante on new MVA (motor Vehicle Act) violators in the State.

The RTO Bhubaneswar Tuesday slapped a fine of Rs 1000 on a pillion rider at Khandagiri area in Bhubaneswar for travelling without helmet. Authorities have also charged a penalty of Rs 25,000 on a minor rider of the 2-wheeler.

Only recently, taking a hard stance on the violation of the new MVA, the Odisha State Transport Authority has warned of cancelling driving licenses, if the pillion rider was found to be travelling without helmets.

“Driving license of pillion rider and the rider will be cancelled, if the piggy back rider travels without helmet.”

It seems, this is perhaps the first instance where RTO has slapped fine on a pillion rider for not wearing helmet in the State, post the issuance of notification on Saturday last.

As per the road accidents data available with the Union Transport Ministry, a whopping 1,423 persons (drivers/riders) in Odisha were killed in 2019 for the reason of not wearing helmets.

Similarly, another 733 pillion riders died in road mishaps for travelling without helmets.

While Odisha was ranked at 10th with regards to number of drivers/riders killed in road mishaps without helmets, the State ranked 2 notches higher at 8th nationally, when it comes to road mishaps proving fatal for pillion riders..

Besides, a high of over 3,400 persons were reported to have suffered injuries for the cause of non-wearing of the protective headgear last year, the report observed.