Asish Mehta
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 22: The craze among the youth in the twin cities to have a brighter and stronger rush of light from the headlamps of their bikes is turning road safety weaker, but there seem to be nary a care from any quarters to check the trend.
An increasing number of young bikers have got high-definition xenon and halogen headlamps fitted to their two-wheelers in recent months after removing the headlamps originally fitted by the bike manufacturers. The youth evidently do not bother about the fact that these retrofitted xenon headlamps are often too strong and can disrupt other road users’ vision and risk their safety. Police are yet to wake up to the menace in the make, though the rulebooks forbid the use of retrofitted headlamps.
“Xenon headlights offer a better visibility, but their light can cause temporary blindness, eye irritation and loss of concentration for motorists coming from the opposite direction,” said Biren Mohapatra, a salesman in a city-based motorcycle showroom. Xenon lights available for use in the bikes, he said, are of 60 to 65 watt power and contain xenon gas, while company-fitted headlamps are of 30 to 35 watt and contain argon gas.
According to the rules of the commissionerate police, the fine for using retrofitted xenon headlamps is Rs 1,000. But police sources said very few bikers have been fined in connection with the matter.
Himanshu, a city-based businessman, said he got an LED headlight fitted on his motorcycle at a cost of Rs 1,700. “I am not aware of any rules against the use of such headlights. I bought them mainly for clear visibility on the dark city streets,” he said.
Twin-city police commissioner Dr Rajendra Prasad Sharma confirmed to Orissa POST that using retrofitted headlamps on motorcycles was against the rules. “I will make sure that a drive to identify motorcycles with retrofitted headlamps is started soon and action is taken as per the rules,” he said.
Like fancy headlights, the youth of the twin cities are also in love with fancy number plates. Police sources said as per the rules of the commissionerate police, vehicle owners can be fined for having fancy number plates on their two-wheelers.
“A number plate should ideally have fonts of a specified size that is neither too small nor too large, and it should not have any logos, paintings, pictures or stickers on it,” said a traffic police officer.
