A police officer fixes the helmet of a student in front of Deepika English Medium School in Rourkela on Wednesday. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, June 25: Students who find it smart to flout traffic rules beware.

Traffic wing of the steel city police has started a drive to ensure that students who ride two-wheelers have proper licence and wear helmets.

Superintendent of police A.N. Sinha took the lead by making a Facebook post on the issue. The police chief has recently opened a Facebook account so that the common man can directly communicate with him. The police have turned their focus on students as many of them are riding two-wheelers without putting on proper safety gears such as helmets. The other area of concern for the cops is that many of these students are below 18 years and are not entitled to ride two-wheelers with gears.

According to motor vehicles rules, a person can ride a two-wheeler with gears only after he/she attains the age of 18 and for vehicles without gears the age-limit is 16. However, the violation of the rule is rampant here.

“We had met school and college authorities and discussed with them about sensitising students regarding use of helmets. We also had urged parents to provide head gears for the safety of their children,” said Sinha.

A police source said that students of many English medium schools in the city ride non-geared two-wheelers or geared bikes without wearing helmets. Students happen to be the most frequent offenders and are regularly caught for flouting traffic rules.

“We had earlier discussed it with all the stakeholders and tried to make wearing helmets compulsory for these students, but they are not sticking to it. We hope that parents and teachers will ensure that the students do not break the rules anymore,” said a traffic police officer.

Even school and college authorities said that they had been forcing their students to obey traffic rules and wear helmets.

Sinha has also used his Facebook wall to urge people to follow traffic rules. He has said that obeying rules crucial to saving lives must come from within rather than outside. He has urged people to make a pledge to wear helmets and inspire others by sticking to it.

“This is a good effort by the police. Their approach is positive. Besides we must ensure that our children remain safe by wearing a helmet that would not cost much,” said Rajnarayan Mallick, a resident.