RAWALPINDI(APP): City Traffic Police (CTP) have accelerated their ongoing special drive launched on use of safety helmet for bikers and the motorcyclists are being educated about traffic rules, road safety and use of helmets.

The CTP spokesman talking to APP said, the helmet-less bikers would not be allowed to enter the Mall and Peshawar Road from the first December.

A special squad comprising district and traffic police personnel had been formed to implement the ban strictly to ensure safety of the motorcyclists, he added.

The squad members would be deployed at entry and exit points and strict action in accordance with the law would be taken against the rules violators, he said.

The Rawalpindi district administration had banned the entry of helmet-less motorcyclists to the Mall Road and Peshawar Road from the first December, he said adding, a notification in this regard was issued following a recommendation from the Rawalpindi

Chief Traffic Officer (CTO). In a bid to encourage bikers to wear helmet while riding, the administration has also barred petrol stations to give petrol to bikers who are not wearing helmet from first December.

He informed that the awareness banners had been displayed at petrol pumps in all tehsils of the district. A grand operation in this regard would be launched from December first, he added.

The ban had been imposed in view of 16 fatalities in 46 accidents of bikers who were travelling on the two thoroughfares without wearing any helmets over the past 10 months.

The CTP had launched a campaign to make helmets compulsory for all motorbike riders on the directives of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The Education Wing was highlighting the importance of road safety and observance of traffic rules. Education.

Wing of CTP had also been arranging special briefing sessions on road safety at different educational institutions and other public places in the city, he added. He said all the traffic issues could be resolved by observing traffic rules which were for the safety and protection of the road user. The citizens should have knowledge about road safety and traffic rules that must be observed on roads. Traffic signals should not be violated as such violations may lead to a fatal accident, he added.