RAJKOT: Citizens of Saurashtra’s financial hub Rajkot need to brace up to face action if they plan to ride a two-wheeler without a helmet. The city traffic police on Wednesday began a special awareness drive encouraging people to wear helmet. However, post the awareness drive , the city police will be acting tough on those violating the compulsory helmet rule, which could even lead to suspension of driving licence for three months in addition to a heavy fine.On Wednesday, the city traffic police began the awareness drive by distributing pamphlets to drivers asking them to start wearing helmets. According to an estimate by the city police, only 3% of riders wear helmet. The pamphlets were distributed near parking areas of Goras Lok Mela where people from all corners of the city came to visit the Janmashtami fair. Cops interacted with two-wheeler riders at Gebanshah Pir crossroads which is a shortcut to the Race Course ground and later leads to district collector’s office.They stopped riders without helmets and noted their details including mobile phone numbers before handing them a pamphlet. The pamphlet described the law of wearing helmet and also explained that wearing helmets reduce the possibility of deaths by 60% in case of accidents.The cops also told the riders that according to the amendment in Motor Vehicle Act 2016, a fine up to Rs 1,000 could be imposed on the rider for not wearing helmet and the penalty could also lead to suspension of licence for three months.DCP traffic J K Zala said, “We are noting the mobile numbers of drivers after distribution of the pamphlets. In all, we will distribute 10,000 pamphlets. Then we will send bulk SMSs to these people requesting them to wear the helmets. Thereafter, we will start collecting fine if they violate the rules.”“With computerization of the entire process it is easy to find how many times a person was found violating the norms. If a person violates the helmet rule three times, a request will be sent to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to suspend the license of the said person for three months,” added Zala.

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