LHC orders to enforce helmet use in Punjab

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed the Punjab inspector general of police to strictly implement restriction of wearing helmets by motorcyclists in the whole province.

Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi issued the order on a petition filed by a lawyer, Syed Kamal Haider, for the enforcement of traffic laws across the province. The lawyer contended that a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that in Pakistan, 25.3 deaths per 100,000 occur due to road accidents, which was much higher than international ranking. He said as per WHO fact sheet of 2011, more than 90 percent world mortalities on roads occur in low and middle income countries. The lawyer asked the court to order the police to implement all traffic laws, including wearing of helmets by the motorcyclists in the province. He also said that the government should also be directed to fix prices of helmets so that the profiteers could not extort money from the public. Justice Qureshi directed the Punjab IGP to strictly implement the traffic laws in whole province without any discrimination and submit a compliance report within a week.