08 March 2005	Tuesday	26 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, March 7: Crackdown on motorcyclists for not wearing helmets continued on Monday in violation of the Lahore High Court's directive. The traffic police booked 3,412 motorcyclists across the city on Monday , fining them Rs100 each for the violation.

More than 15,000 motorcyclists have been fined since the police launched the campaign on March 1, enforcing compulsory use of helmet. The city police impounded some 347 motorcycles on Monday for being booked twice for the violation.

The LHC had directed the provincial government on Friday not to coerce motorcyclists into wearing helmets for a month and also to show leniency with them after a month-long grace period granted by it.

A majority of motorcyclists who, following the high court ruling, stopped wearing helmets had to pay the price on Monday. "I argued with a traffic constable that the ban had been relaxed by the court but it was to no avail," Ashiq told Dawn at an intersection in Allama Iqbal Town. Most of the violators had a similar point of view.

On their part, traffic police officials claimed that they had received no official notification to stop fining the violators. "We haven't received any order from the department in this regard," said a traffic police inspector.

The government has implemented section 69-A of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965, and section 239-A of the Motor Vehicle Rules 1969, making compulsory for motorcyclists and scooter riders to wear helmets.

The government claims that the law has been introduced to protect motorcyclists against head injuries in case of an accident, and also from sharp thread of stray kites, dust and vagaries of weather.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers in Lahore continued selling local and imported helmets at high prices. Desperate people were seen purchasing second-hand, locally-made and industrial helmets at double rates.