Bengaluru Traffic Police Confirms it will Not Confiscate Imported Helmets

Ban on Imported Helmets (Latest Update): R Hitendra, ACP Traffic, Bangalore recently confirmed through a tweet that imported helmets will not be confiscated from Feb 1, 2018.

He assured that traffic police will write to transport department regarding this issue. Bikers can enjoy riding with their ECE and DOT certified helmets without any fear of getting caught or fined. However, they will continue their drive for substandard helmets. 

Original Story | 23rd January, 2018: Bangalore Traffic Police is planning a crackdown on non-ISI helmets from February 1, 2018. The move was quite positive for the first phase as they were hunting down commuters with fake helmets that were nothing more than caps on the road.

Things became negative when ACP traffic, R Hitendra announced that they will not recognize American spec DOT and Europe spec ECE certification as equivalent to ISI mark. Even after knowing that these helmets have passed a tougher test, this move has shocked everyone concerned with safe riding in India. Costing almost 10-100 times more than a standard ISI helmet, superbike owners prefer these helmets for added safety.

Brands like Bell, Shark, HJC, LS2 and many more offer helmets over INR 5000. Ban over imported helmets will cause maximum loss to them. These are equipped with more safety and offer added nose, chin and eye protection than ISI marked helmets.

Banning these would mean compromising with safety of someone who can afford to pay for extra safe riding. No one among odd 20 buyers of Hayabusa every month would go for an ISI marked helmet in place of a safer and quieter option. The same is true for every bikes who spends more than INR 2 lakh on a motorcycle.

Housing minister M Krishnappa and his son, MLA Priya Krishna will organize an event where they will distribute ISI certified helmets free of cost. Will this end all the problems? No, this will not. What about someone who has spent INR 1 lakh on Shoei or Arai helmet, just to make sure that his head remains safe in an unexpected event?

Will he get the same assurance from an INR 1000 worth helmet? Bangalore administration should look into this matter as soon as possible. Ban on imported helmets is not the right way to solve this problem.