Want to ride a bike? You may need to sign indemnity bond pledging to wear helmet

In one of the most hard-hitting laws framed to encourage the practice of wearing helmets among bikers, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) plans to make all bikers sign an indemnity bond, clearly stating that they would use helmets. [caption id=“attachment_2055267” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Now, you’ll have to sign an indemnity bond pledging wearing helmets. Reuters[/caption] The most important aspect of this rule is that if a person riding a two-wheeler has an accident without wearing helmet, the blame would be on the rider and not on the transport and traffic authorities, according to The Times of India. “We are doing this because people should get more responsible and follow traffic rules. Currently, if people are caught without helmets, the courts usually pull up officials for non-implementation of the rules. Right now, we don’t have enough staff to monitor this. The citizens should be held responsible and understand that helmets are for their safety,” Hindustan Times quoted transport minister Diwakar Raote as saying. Moreover, the traffic police conducted a campaign in front of the Mantralaya in Mumbai where they fined as many as 60 people for not wearing helmets while riding a two-wheeler, reported The Asian Age. They also stopped and fined drivers for stopping their vehicles on or after the zebra crossing. The government has introduced new rules to improve women’s security. As such, the government is mulling over reservation of the front seats in share taxis for women, said the TOI report. Women applying for a learner’s license can appear for the tests between 2 pm and 4 pm at the transport offices, said the report. The fines for violation of traffic rules might also be hiked. “If the fines are high then the riders and drivers will prefer following norms rather than flouting it,” The Asian Age quoted Raote as saying.