Cops fine with no helmet

Cops fine with no helmet

By Bangalore Mirror Team
Posted On Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Frankly, it has left us wondering. Fifty junctions under two hours, cutting a wide swathe of the city on two bikes, riding without helmets, often jumping signals, merrily talking on the cellphone while riding, yet getting booked only once!

Why, at one point we got so bored and desperate we even stopped right in front of a cop to ask him for directions. And believe it or not, the man gave the directions and gladly waved us on, hardly bothering to note our multiple transgressions.
Now, either it was our very brazenness - we were almost daring the cops to catch us - or there was something shellacked on our foreheads that made the traffic policemen give us a wide berth.

Whatever it is, it reveals how selective and haphazard the enforcing of traffic rules, especially the ones related to helmets, in Bangalore is.

And to top it all, at the one place where the cops were alert enough to notice that we weren’t wearing helmets, the SI after fining us had the gumption to say that we were now free to go around without a helmet for the next 24 hours, the period of validity for the fine challan! That is indeed some interpretion of the law, coming from a law enforcer!

FREE RUN
On Tuesday morning, our reporting team comprising Atul Chaturvedi, Debi Prasad Sarangi, Saurabh Yadav and Sharan Poovanna ventured out on two motorcycles in the city’s Central Business district, the IT areas of Koramangala and Indiranagar and the residential locality of Jayanagar.

Two reporters on a motorcycle went on violating rule after rule, with the rider driving without a helmet. The other two reporters followed them on another bike, taking photographs and noting the behaviour of traffic cops.

Our team started at 12.45 pm from Vidhana Soudha, passed through MG Road, Brigade Road, Trinity junction, Old Airport Road, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Diary Circle, Bannerghatta Road, JP Nagar, Jayanagar and Basavanagudi before heading back to the Bangalore Mirror office by 2.45 pm. During this two-hour sojourn, we must have crossed over 50 junctions where traffic cops were on duty. Only on MG Road were we fined.

Not a single cop bothered to stop us despite the bike rider using a cellphone endlessly while riding. We got bored of this “negligence” by the police and stopped the bike right in front of them asking for directions. They happily showed us the way and did not ask about the missing helmet. At another junction, we misled the cop by stating that the helmet has been stolen and we are on the way to buy it. The cop happily co-operated with us instead of fining us.

THE COPS HARDLY CARE
To our shock, we discovered that the cop who fined us near Gandhi statue on MG Road was ignorant of the Motor Vehicle Act. After issuing a challan for the fine amount of Rs 100 for not wearing the helmet, the traffic Sub-Inspector of Cubbon Park police station put his seal and signature on the challan and told us to show it to other cops if they stopped us. He told us the fine challan issued by him was valid for the next 24 hours and that we could ride the bike without a helmet during this period. “Take my cellphonenumber and call me if some traffic cop stops you for not wearing the helmet,” he added.

We cross-checked it with a RTO who, quoting the MV Act, said “It is a misleading statement by the SI. The fine amount is for only one offence of not wearing the helmet when somebody is caught. After that, you should stop riding the bike or buy/borrow a helmet and continue the journey. The law does not allow you to ride without a helmet by paying a fine.’’

Here then is a signal-by-traffic-signal account of how the cops, with one exception, were distracted or just too lazy to not notice the traffic infringements.

12.45 PM: We started from Vidhana Soudha West Gate, passed the busy GPO and Coffee Board junction located close to Police Commissioner’s office. We followed a traffic SI who was on a bike, nobody stopped us.

1.10 PM: Traffic was heavy en route to M G Road, vehicles were moving at snail’s pace. We came under the radar of Cubbon Park Traffic SI, M Papanna who was on duty near Gandhi statue. Papanna’s constables stopped us. They asked us to pay a fine of Rs 100 for not wearing the helmet. We told them in Hindi to spare us as our helmet had been stolen and we are heading to Brigade Road to buy it. They replied in Hindi to pay Rs 200, pointing out that the bike had no mirror and that the fine for it was another Rs 100. At this point, we paid Rs 100 and Papanna issued a challan. We asked him if we could continue to ride the bike without a helmet up to Brigade Road. He replied “This challan allows you to ride the bike without a helmet for the next 24 hours. If somebody stops you show this challan and I will put my seal and signature on it.’’

1.15 PM: After paying the fine near MG Statue, we headed towards Brigade Road. Over there we saw one traffic SI, one head constable and one constable. Without a helmet we took right turn towards Opera circle. The traffic cops over there too did not stop us. This apart, we were smoking and talking on cell phone while riding.

1.20 PM: By this time we were on Residency Road. From there, it took five minutes to reach Trinity Circle via MG Road. This time in an attempt to subvert the traffic rule in a different way, we decided to jump the signal. And we made it in one go despite the presence of traffic policemen there. The cop on duty did not even look at us. Forget about stopping and fining us.

1.27 PM: After ditching both the traffic police and traffic rule at Trinity Circle, we went towards Air Force Command Hospital, Old Airport Road. We saw a constable happily talking on his cell phone under the traffic post. As if he was sure that no body is going to jump the signal. But again we repeated the same thing.

1.35 PM: Then we headed towards Indira Nagar. We ferried the entire Indira Nagar area including 100 ft Road, 80 ft Road and CMH Road.Not a single traffic police bothered to stop us while breaking rules deliberately.

1.55 PM: From Indira Nagar, we started towards Koramangala via inner Ring Road. Throughout the entire stretch from Koramangala to Jayadeva Hospital junction, we failed to see a single traffic policeman.

2.05 PM: Still unable to find any cops willing to enforce the rules, we continued our journey on the main road leading to Banashankari. In a desperate attempt to see some action, we stopped next to a traffic constable and asked him for directions. To our surprise, we were given directions but he did not even ask us about the helmet!

Then we continued our journey through Jayanagar but were disappointed for not being caught and penalised.

Our journey of more than 30 kms without a helmet around the city’s main areas ended with a modest fine of Rs 100. It was during this Test Drive that we discovered there were indeed a large number of other riders who rode without helmets and were none the worse off for it in th eyes of the cops.

The route
Vidhana Soudha To Chamarajpet, via MG Road, Trinity Circle, Air Force Command Hospital, Indiranagar, Koramangala,
Jayanagar, Banashankari

The reporters
Debi Prasad Sarangi, Atul Chaturvedi

The photographers
Saurabh Yadav & Sharan Poovanna