Helmet Compliance Gets “Thumbs Up’

PHUKET TOWN: Bikers dusted off their helmets before venturing out yesterday as local police stepped up enforcement of Thailand’s three-year-old motorbike safety helmet regulation. Drivers and passengers donned headgear as police conducted roadside checkpoints along the island’s major thoroughfares. In Phuket Town, helmet checks were conducted on Montri Road near The Metropole hotel as well as arteries leading out of the city. When asked by a Gazette reporter how bikers were complying with the law, one Muang district police officer stationed on Chao Fa Road near Suan Luang Park gave the “thumbs up” sign. Motorbike taxi drivers were spotted carrying an extra helmet in their front baskets yesterday evening. Pairot Ruamit, who was awaiting his next fare outside the Robinson Ocean shopping mall, said he purchased a spare passenger helmet to avoid a possible fine. He said the headgear cost him 250 baht – more than two days’ earnings. Provincial authorities have vowed to strictly enforce the helmet law as part of a campaign to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths and injuries.