Vijayawada: Distributing chocolates to the two-wheeler riders for wearing helmets here on Friday, deputy transport commissioner A Mohan said that a helmet is not a burden but a strong weapon to protect the rider’s life.

The DTC inaugurated a novel programme on Mahatma Gandhi Road to bring awareness among bike riders on the importance of wearing the helmet.

The staff of the Transport department distributed chocolates to the bike riders if they were wearing a helmet. Addressing the gathering, DTC Mohan said that every bike rider should wear the helmet to save their valuable lives.

An accident due to simple negligence could destroy the family, he pointed out. Several hundreds of people were dying in road accidents for the simple reason of not wearing a helmet. The helmet gives immense protection to the head while riding the bike.

Many bike riders rather wrongly believe that they are careful riders and nothing would happen to them. But the negligence of others may result in mishaps.

He appealed to the riders to put on helmets without fail to protect themselves and their families. “It is not true that a helmet would damage the hair and they are not comfortable,” he said.

In fact, there is no entry for the bike riders on roads if they do not wear helmets. If they do not wear helmets, cases would be filed against them and their driving licences would be cancelled, he warned. RDOs R Praveen, K Venkateswara Rao, MVIs V Padmakar, A Udaya Sivaprasad, DV Ramana, B Sravani, Geetanjali, Priyadarsini, KV Ravigopal, B Uma Maheswara Rao, Lazar Babu, Transport Employees Union zonal president M Raju Babu, office superintendent Satyanarayana, Government College NSS Coordinator Sridevi and students participated in the programme.