Helmet rule to be uniform all over Goa

The Helmet which is a safety gear for the head while travelling on a two wheeler is likely to be made as a compulsory wear for all Goans across the state irrespective of the type of area they drive the two wheelers in. Currently the Goa government has relaxed the rule of wearing helmets which has been made compulsory for two wheeler drivers only on highways and excludes places such as village roads, city limits , towns and other such areas.

However all that could undergo a change and people in Goa may have to wear the helmet if they intend to drive the two-wheelers on the roads, in any area all over Goa. This has been necessitated due to the inability of the transport department to evince the desired results due to the partial implementation of the rule in Goa.

A proposal to implement the rule in wholesome has therefore been forwarded to the transport department and is supposedly under active consideration of the government. The transport department is currently of the view that making the helmet compulsory throughout the state would help avoid the number of people dying due to head injuries on the roads by meeting with accidents which involve two wheelers. It is believed that wearing the  helmet would have saved such lives.

As per the statistics of the transport department, the traffic police in Goa had registered over 37,446 cases in the year 2007 against two wheelers for not wearing the helmet on highways whereas in 2008 the number rose by over 45 percent to 54,392.

It is estimated that more than half the number of accidents occurring in Goa involve two wheelers and the people succumbing to such accidents are either the two wheeler riders or the pillion riders. Studies have proved that wearing a helmet by such people could have saved the lives which were lost.