In response to a PIL on the rise in deaths due to two-wheeler accidents, a division bench of Justice have directed the court commissioner to verify whether car manufacture companies were providing a saree guard for the rear wheel and a handgrip for the pillion-rider while selling two-wheelers. According to the petitioner, manufacturers were violating the rule that makes it mandatory to provide a permanent handgrip for the pillion-rider, a proper footrest and a mudguard covering more than half of the rear wheel to ensure that a woman’s dupatta, saree or any other garment of the pillion rider does not get entangled in the wheel. Reports show that Maharashtra accounts for 15.1% of fatal motorcycle accidents, the highest in the country, with 2,439 riders dying in 2005. The number of people killed annually in the country is approximately 40,000.
