The govt. has made a significant move on safety measures by making it mandatory for children above 4 years of age to wear headgear of prescribed standards. This safety measures for the children has been included in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) act 2019 after amending Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which was passed by the government recently.
Key points
i. Assent to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) act 2019, was given by the Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu which was notified in the Gazette of India by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on August 9, 2019.
ii. Section 129 of the principal Act has been replaced in the act as “Every person above four years of age, driving or riding or being carried on a motorcycle of any class or description shall, while in public place wear protective headgear conforming to such standards as may be prescribed by the Central Government” to make protective headgear mandatory for children.
iii. Violators will be fined an amount of Rs.1000.
Exemption from headgears:
Turban wearing Sikhs are exempted from section 129.
Headgear in the market
i. At present only protective headgear for riding cycle are available for children in the market for children.
ii. Till the markets introduce children’s headgear for motorcycle, Road safety expert and Former director of the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) T. Elangovan called for (demanded/required) providing a breathing space and also suggested the no. Of riders in a motorcycle to be a maximum of two people. He also recommended the children pillion riders should be of above 13years of age.
iii. Children and Pillion riders( a person behind the person who rides the motorcycle) are more prone to head injuries than the one who rides a motorcycle. Protective helmets will help avoid such head injuries.