'Prohibition on non-ISI helmets a welcome move'

The ISI Helmet Association has hailed the move of making sale of non-ISI helmets an offence, saying these headwears compromise on safety and add to road fatalities.
"We are now glad that the government has made it mandatory for all helmet manufacturers to obtain Indian standards certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)," ISI helmet manufacture Association President Rajeev Kapur said.
According to the association, a senior transport ministry official had stated that the BIS has informed the Supreme Court that the process would be completed in six months.
Looking at the current statistics, over 75-80 per cent of helmets used by two-wheeler riders across India do not meet ISI standards, the market is flooded with sub-standard products that compromise on safety despite a fourth of all road deaths involve two-wheeler occupants, Kapur said.

In India, riders underestimate the role of helmet and tend to buy cheap headwear, which does not protect them well and this has worsened the situation and giving rise to the substandard helmet manufacturers, the association said.