Bhubaneswar: Amid the strict enforcement of double helmet rules in Odisha, the State transport minister, Padmanabha Behera on Tuesday urged motorists not to offer lift to anyone without having extra helmet.
Behera cautioned that the driving licences (DLs) of those found violating the norms are being suspended.
“The rule for compulsory double helmets exists since 2019 following amendment in the amended Motor Vehicle Act, but was relaxed in view of Covid-19 pandemic. The rider as well as the pillion rider must wear helmets. Otherwise, both will face the penalty,” he said.
The Minister said a Supreme Court committee will visit various black spots in Odisha within three months to review and suggest ameliorative measures to reduce the accident rate in the State.
A meeting was held on December 10 under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary of Commerce & Transport Department to finalise the Joint Inspection Format of the accident spots.
“Discussions were held at the meeting to take measures to implement all the recommendations made by the committee and reduce accidents in the State,” he said.
During the meeting, the Transport Commissioner submitted a proposal to develop an IT tool for reporting and monitoring various road safety parameters as required by the Supreme Court Committee.
It was also decided to develop a Master Database containing location of all blackspots (chainage, latitude and longitudes) identified so far and date of completion of traffic calming measures. This database will be a part ofthe proposed IT tool to be developed by the Transport Commissioner, so that any new accident information can be superimposed on that database to see the efficacy of treatment of Black Spots.
The location of new accidents with latitude, longitude, chainage will be provided to the Road Owning Authorities by the CID, CB on quarterly basis.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)