Helmetless riders in PCB shell out Rs4 lakh fine

The Local Military Authority (LMA) and the traffic police have turned stricter with helmetless riders on army roads in Pune Cantonment Board (PCB), as they have collected over Rs4 lakh in fines from nearly 4,000 helmetless riders within a fortnight.

The LMA has made helmets compulsory on army roads and are taking assistance of Pune traffic police to issue challans to errant riders.

Around two months ago, the LMA had announced the compulsory helmet rule on army roads in Cantonment area. From September 1, the LMA, along with the traffic police, started raising awareness about the use of helmets. When they found that riders were not following the rule, they started banning entry of helmetless riders from September 6. Later, the LMA with assistance from traffic police started fining errant riders to deter them from using army roads.

Inspector BD Shinde, incharge of Bund Garden traffic division told DNA, “We are taking action as per the requirement of LMA. We are issuing challans and collecting fines only on army roads of PCB. Before this drive was launched, we did not take any action against errant riders on army roads. However, since the drive started from October 3, we have collected a fine of Rs4 lakh from offenders.”

Col (GS) RS Sharma said, “We do not want to harass anyone. The action will benefit two-wheeler riders, as they will use helmets, making their ride safer. We’ll continue enforcing the rule, as we have seen positive results.”