Odisha: Common citizens can now report incidents of riding without helmet to traffic dept

In 2022, a staggering 34 per cent of the deaths in road accidents in Odisha involved two-wheelers. Hence, the initiative was launched.

Bhubaneswar: Common people of Odisha can now report incidents of people riding motorcycles and scooters without helmet to the traffic department through an online application, an official said.

Under the ‘Citizen Sentinel’ section of mParivahan application, people can upload photos and videos of people riding without helmets under ‘No Helmet Violation’ option and e-challans will be issued to the violators after verification, he said, adding that the identity of the person reporting the violation will not be disclosed.

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“In 2022, a staggering 34 per cent of the deaths in road accidents in Odisha involved two-wheelers. A total of 1,695 people were killed and 2,615 were injured in accidents in which the riders were not wearing helmets,” he said.

Additional Transport Commissioner (Road Safety and Enforcement) Lalmohan Sethi said, “Road safety is a shared responsibility. To begin with, we are seeking the help of citizens to keep a check on those who ride without wearing helmets. In future, other traffic violations will be added in the citizen sentinel option.” He said though many people are wearing helmets in urban areas due to continuous enforcement, many avoid wearing those in rural areas and highways, where protection is much more needed.

“Despite being mandatory, helmets are rarely worn by pillion riders despite them also being equally vulnerable in an event of accident. If riders take care of their own safety by wearing helmets, they should not risk the safety of the pillion riders as well,” he said.

Sethi said concerned citizens can upload photos and videos of both rider as well as pillion rider without helmets but while clicking the videos and photos, they should make sure that the vehicle number is clearly visible.

“The location, date and time of violation will be automatically captured from the photos and the videos uploaded and the identity of the person reporting the violation will not be disclosed,” he added.