Team Herald
PONDA: Irked by the announcement from Police Superintendent Dharmesh Angle that pillion riders will be fined for not wearing helmets, Ponda locals demanded that the government first provide safe roads by repairing potholes and fixing poor stretches with fresh hot mix, before fining pillion riders.
A local, Vishal Fadte said the government was looking at ways to increase their revenue while claiming to worry about road-user’s safety. “We are not opposed to it, as the law mandates that pillion riders should also wear helmets. But what about the dangers of these bad roads, which are also poorly illuminated?” he questioned.
He added that the KTC Bus Stand road, Market road, Daag Ponda road and many internal roads are unsafe as they are riddled with potholes.
“The two main reasons for accidents are speeding vehicles and dangerous roads. The traffic police do not have enough speed radars, and need to remedy this first,” said Ulhas Naik, another local. Other villagers insisted that they did not need helmets on village roads
