There are certain policies which work internationally: Compulsory use of helmets and headlights by two-wheeler riders. Helmet use is mandated by the Motor Vehicle Act in India. However, each state has to notify it for it to be enforced. Most of the states in India have been criminally negligent in not doing so.

However, the new rule is not related to helmets or an insurance policy for bikers. It’s about compulsory headlamps ‘ON’ for two wheelers. In a bind to make roads safer for two-wheelers in India, the government has reportedly decided to mandate ‘Automatic Headlamp On’ (AHO) in two-wheelers from 2017.

Reason For Making ‘Automatic Headlamp On’ (AHO) Mandatory:

As per the reports, from April 2017, two-wheelers in India will come with headlights which will stay on whenever the two-wheeler starts. The two-wheeler manufacturers will now remove the on/off switch seen on the right handlebar located between the engine kill switch and the electric start button. Once this system is fitted in two-wheelers, riders won’t have a switch to turn the headlight off as it would be automatic. It will help in improving overall visibility.

Apparently, a Supreme Court-appointed committee on road safety had earlier pushed the proposal. The committee has emphasized on the point that AHO has been found beneficial in reducing crashes involving two-wheelers in many parts of the world. After consulting bike-makers, the road transport ministry has finalized the norm with the objective to reduce crashes.

As per the latest reports, two-wheelers accounted for being the single category of vehicles that have met with the highest number of fatal road crashes (32,524) in 2014. Experts on automobile safety said AHO has improved conspicuity of two-wheelers during day and at dawn and dusk. “It can be enhanced by optimizing the lamp’s colour, luminosity and intensity,” said an expert.

Transport ministry officials said: “In several cases, people trapped in vehicles in remote areas or off the main road don’t get help quickly. Unlike in other countries where the horn automatically starts when a vehicle meets with an accident and works as an alert. But here we need to have a different mechanism since automatic blowing of horn won’t sound abnormal to commuters or even traffic police”.

This system, which is similar to DRLs on cars, turns on the headlights as soon the engine has been switched on, with the switch to turn off the headlights will be removed.

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