Don't forget to wear your helmets today

Aurangabad: City police will be on a sharp lookout for citizens riding without helmets today as part of the city-wide helmet drive, and levying hefty fines in case of violations.
While many citizens thronged helmet shops throughout the weekend in a last-minute rush, experts have warned of sub-standard helmet quality that may not mitigate injuries.
Ahead of helmet compulsion for two-wheeler riders in the city from Monday, police have recently carried out crackdown against road-side sellers of helmets that said to have lacking quality and safety standards.The Motor Vehicles Act has intrinsic provision that stresses the use of helmets of specified standards only.
As per the Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, every person driving or riding a motorbike should wear protective headgear conforming to the standards of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Speaking with ToI, city-based neuro-physician Dr Makrand Kanjalkar said the design standards of helmets are evolved to ensure safety during any eventuality.
"The use of standard quality helmets is highly recommended and wearing spurious headgears for the sake of wearing is going to serve no purpose. Road accidents which involves head injuries due to lack of helmets, can lead to serious disabilities in individual. There cannot be any option to use of helmets," he said.
Dr Yogesh Vargantwar, a city-based neurosurgeon, said standard quality helmets are light in weight but have sturdy structures. "The heavy helmets can be more than dangerous as they can cause injury termed as whip-lash that results into damage to neck and cervical spine within the body. Use of helmets is the best possible way to minimize the risk of injury to skull and brain during road-accidents," he said.
Dr Amol Zadbuke, a radiologist, said helmets invariably act as shock-absorbers during road-accidents and protect the head from direct impact.
"The head is the most vulnerable part of human body, and if the rider wears a helmet, it helps in avoiding direct injury to the brain. The injuries to head during road accidents often either causes long-lasting and permanent deformity in the patient or leads to death. Wearing protective headgear protects the brain and the brain-stem during road accidents involving two-wheelers. It also protects human eyes from adverse weather conditions such as heavy rains and sunlight," he told ToI.
When contacted, citizens expressed curiosity over the helmet compulsion being implemented in the city from Monday.
Subodh Kulkarni, a resident of Mayur Nagar, said he owns a helmet, which was gathering dust for months.
"Two years ago, I had purchased a helmet due to safety concerns, but could not use it regularly. With traffic cops planning a crackdown against bike riders for not wearing helmets, I will be happily taking out my helmet from the shelf," he said.
Yogita Kale, a youngster, said she would start wearing a helmet from Monday. "Girls are somewhat averse to use of helmets, but I feel I am okay with it. Given the spate of fatal accidents the city has been witnessing involving youth, I feel wearing a helmet is the best way of prevention," she said.
As announced earlier, city police will be taking penal action bike riders for not wearing helmets. Speaking with ToI, traffic cops said Section 129 of Motor Vehicles Act 1988 that involves slapping of Rs 100 fine would be invoked against violators to begin with and later both Section 129 and Section of the legislation would be applied, making offenders shell out Rs 600.