People warn of stir against helmets
Various consumer protection organisations in Madurai have demanded the Tamil Nadu government extend the deadline for introducing the helmet rule for two wheeler and pillion riders. They said that they would launch a campaign for this and work against the candidate supported by the DMK in the Madurai west constituency by-election, if the government failed to concede their demand.
Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Saturday, president of the Madurai Consumer Protection Council Mr S Tamilarasan recalled that it was the same DMK government, which had withdrawn the order on the wearing of helmets in 1989. “We are not against the wearing of helmets but we want the government to leave it to the discretion of the riders, rather than forcing them to do so, †he said, and added that many of the two wheeler riders belonged to the middle and lower middle class strata of society, and buying helmet would be a financial burden for them. They would also be harassed by policemen if the rule was brought in, as they unreasonably impose fines on them, he argued.
He said that if the government did not postpone the enforcement of the rule, their organisation would form Two Wheeler Riders Welfare Associations in all the wards of the Madurai West constituency and work against the candidate supported by the DMK and even go to the extent of not voting, he said. Mr S V Pathy, secretary of the All India Human Rights Organisation said that many medical professionals had clarified that wearing a helmet could be physically detrimental to the rider, instead of saving their lives in an accident. “People using spectacles can have distorted vision due to tilting of the vision axis,†he claimed. Mr A K Ramasamy, secretary of the Madurai Bar Association said that advocates and consumer welfare organisations would launch a stir in front of all the district court premises throughout the state on May 30, if the government did not change its mind on forcing people to wear helmets.
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