SC bans registration of two wheelers without hand grips, saree guards

The Supreme Court has said that all two-wheeler manufacturers will have to install safety accessories for pillion riders such as saree guards and hand grips.

The order was passed while upholding an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had in 2008 banned registration of vehicles without such accessories. The SC had in 2008 stayed the order after the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers had filed an appeal.

However while finally disposing of the appeal, the SC held that there was no merit in the appeal. The court also upheld Rule 123 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules which provides for mandatory safety measures for pillion riders. The rule states that manufacturers will need to ensure the safety measures before the vehicles are rolled out of the factories.

"No motor cycle, which has provision for pillion rider, shall be constructed without provision for a permanent hand grip on the side or behind the driver's seat and a foot rest and a protective device covering not less than half of the rear wheel so as to prevent the clothes of the person sitting on the pillion from being entangled in the wheel," the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, say.

OneIndia News