Helmet violations surge in Hyderabad despite awareness campaigns

Riding without a helmet remains the most common traffic offence in Hyderabad, with nearly 80 lakh violations recorded in 2025. Police say poor compliance, weak enforcement and substandard helmets are contributing to rising road deaths, especially among two-wheeler riders.

Hyderabad: Riding without a helmet continued to be the most common traffic offence in Hyderabad, with violations rising sharply in 2025 despite repeated awareness campaigns by the city police.

As per police data, across the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri (earlier Rachakonda) police commissionerates, nearly 80 lakh motorists were caught and fined in 2025 for not wearing helmets.

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This was a significant increase from 60.38 lakh helmet-related traffic violation challans, which were issued in 2024, which indicated a declining compliance and non-deterrence among two-wheeler riders.

According to the traffic officials, the lack of helmet use is directly contributing to fatalities, as observed from the recent road accident incidents over the last few years.

In 2024, the three commissionerates together recorded a total of 9,601 road accidents, in which 2,275 people lost their lives. In which two-wheeler riders formed the majority of the victims.

While the law provides for stricter action against repeat offenders, this provision is rarely implemented on the ground. Instead, traffic violators are usually fined and released.

It may be noted that Telangana uses a 12-point system for driving licences, where accumulating 12 points from traffic violations within two consecutive years leads to a one-year license suspension, repeated offences result in longer suspensions, all managed via the RTA M-Wallet app and integrated e-challan system.

Officials also pointed out that many challans generated through traffic cameras remain unpaid, reducing the deterrent effect. Helmet violations saw a clear year-on-year rise in all three police commissionerates. Hyderabad limits recorded the steepest jump, followed by Cyberabad and Malkajgiri limits.

Two-wheeler riders remain the most vulnerable road users. In Cyberabad alone, 4,608 road accidents were reported in the past year, including 803 serious crashes. More than half of these accidents involved two-wheelers, resulting in 449 deaths.

Traffic Police say most of the victims were either not wearing helmets or were using poor-quality protective gear. Another worrying trend is the use of substandard or expired helmets, worn only to avoid fines. Such helmets offer little protection during accidents, officials warned.

In 2025, overall, Hyderabad recorded 2,679 accidents and 294 deaths, Cyberabad reported 4,608 accidents and 850 deaths, while Rachakonda saw 3,488 accidents claiming a total of 696 lives.