The latest report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has highlighted the importance of wearing a helmet when riding a two-wheeler. Going by the figures, more than 39,000 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2020 as they did not wear a helmet. 12 percent of these fatalities were recorded in Maharashtra alone.
The report showed that 83 percent of all the bikers that were killed in road crashes in Maharashtra in 2020 were not using a helmet. A total of 4,878 two-wheeler users died in the state as they chose not to wear a helmet. Of these, 69 percent were found to be riding the vehicle while 31 percent were pillion.
Riders often wear helmets out of safety concerns or fear of getting fined. But, pillions are mostly seen without helmets on Indian roads. The latest data revealed that 2,625 pillions sustained injuries in Maharashtra in 2020 due to not wearing helmets. It was observed that the road accident fatalities reduced drastically in Mumbai and Maharashtra during the pandemic. While Mumbai saw a 22 percent drop in fatalities, cases reduced by 10 percent in Maharashtra.
In a bid to curb the rising number of deaths due to road accidents, the Mumbai police are encouraging people to wear even when they are riding pillion. According to DCP (traffic) Raj Tilak Roshan, the law already existed but they decided to take strict measures after noting that pillions were injured in most road accidents, reported The Times of India.
Road accidents occur due to various factors including human error, road environment, and vehicular conditions. But in 2020, according to MORTH data, it was seen that speeding was behind most accidents. This traffic rule violation emerged as a major killer and accounted for 69.3 percent of the persons killed.
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