Goanet next meets in Goa: January 7, 4 pm (meeting point: Kala Academy canteen). Goanet founder Herman Carneiro will be there. See you there! ------------------------------
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has expressed deep dismay on the failure of the Goa Government to officially clarify as to when the helmet rule would be implemented and as to whether the proposed implementation of helmet rule would include the pillion rider and the children travelling on two-wheelers. MAG Convenor Premanand A. Lotlikar has urged Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to immediately divest Mr. Pandurang Madkaikar of the Transport portfolio for mismanaging the helmet issue and especially in view of the recent statement made by Director of Transport Mr. D.A Hawaldar at a recent Rotary club function that the transport Department was very corrupt. Mr. Lotlikar has stated that Mr. Madkaikar should take responsibility for this sorry state of affairs and wondered as to why the Government which after careful consideration had just a few months ago introduced two exemptions to the helmet rule had now suddenly made a U-turn and decided to make use of helmets mandatory and whether this time the Transport himself had some vested interest to enforce the rule. Mr. Lotlikar has stated that if Government decides it should strictly enforce the rule and that any exemptions should be notified by law and that the enforcing authorities should not be given any unofficial instructions on implementation of the rule to differentiate any particular section of two-wheeler riders. Mr. Lotlikar has stated that the implementation should not be a mere eye-wash and that MAG would not hesitate to approach the High court if the enforcement of the rule is not uniform and in accordance with law. Mr. Lotlikar has stated that making helmets compulsory by itself will not minimise the number of deaths and people will continue to die regardless of whether they were a helmet or not as long as the Government does not take some genuine concrete steps to deal with the root causes of accidents as helmets are only an added protection which could be of help as long as the Government first tackles the other road safety hazards. Mr. Lotlikar has also stated that that if the Government was really interested in road safety the first step should be to end the rampant corruption in the police and transport departments and that the authorities should stop turning a blind eye to the reckless traffic violations by four wheelers especially the rash and negligent buses and trucks, which were the cause of, major deaths on roads. Mr. Lotlikar has further stated that the Government having failed to provide a decent public transport system people have to depend on two wheelers to travel with their families and that the authorities have not clarified whether the rule would be enforced as provided by law for both rider and pillion rider, which would include children travelling on the two-wheeler. Mr. Lotlikar has stated that making helmets compulsory by itself will not minimise the number of deaths and people will continue to die regardless of whether they were a helmet or not as long as the Government does not take some genuine concrete steps to deal with the root causes of accidents as helmets are only an added protection which could be of help as long as the Government first tackles the other road safety hazards. * * * ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
