Guwahati, Nov. 23: City police will gear up to enforce the mandatory wearing of helmets by pillion riders in view of the rising road accidents.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Pranab Jyoti Goswami said though it was mandatory according to the Motor Vehicles Act for pillion riders to wear helmets, it was not enforced properly.

"We intend to enforce this rule but before doing so we will launch an awareness campaign for a few days," he said.

According to Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it is compulsory for everybody, including women and children, riding pillion, to wear helmets. Only people from the Sikh community are exempted from this rule.

"Though from time to time we launch drives to ensure that two-wheeler riders wear helmets, there had been hardly any attempt in the past to enforce the rule for pillion riders. Therefore, we have decided to first launch an awareness drive before going for strict enforcement of this rule," Goswami said.

He said they would spread awareness about the importance of wearing helmets by pillion riders through distribution of leaflets, social media networks and FM radio, among others.

He said 29 per cent of total deaths from road accidents in the country involved two-wheelers last year.

"In Guwahati last year, 304 lives were lost in road accidents and of them, 71 were either two-wheeler riders or pillion riders," the DCP said.

"Helmets are for everyone's safety. We will try to enforce the rule but it alone cannot solve the problem. Public awareness also plays an important role. The success of our efforts will hugely depend on public co-operation. The motorists must understand that they need to follow the rules for their own safety," he said.

Goswami said the spirit of the Motor Vehicles Act is reformatory and its aim is to caution the motorist not to repeat the offence.

"We treat an offender of traffic rule as a violator not as a criminal and that's why the fine amount is also nominal," he said.

"In case of not wearing a helmet, we can impose a fine under Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which is between Rs 100 and Rs 250, which is not a very big amount and do not have much deterrent value and therefore public awareness is a must if we have to ensure compliance of rules," he said.

Some of the states where wearing of helmets by pillion riders has been enforced are New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.