Bengaluru: The traffic police have withdrawn the special drive against motorists and pillion riders using substandard helmets without ISI certification following a clarification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

A week ago, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R. Hithendra had written to the BIS seeking clarification on helmets conforming to BIS standards, especially with regards to half-face helmets and imported ones. The bureau, however, in its reply stated that the conformance of helmets to Indian standards cannot be assessed through a visual examination, following which the police have decided to abort their drive.

“Traffic policemen on duty cannot decide the standard of helmets by a mere physical inspection and hence it is unfair to penalising bikers for wearing sub-standard helmets,” said Hithendra.

The traffic police had decided to launch the drive following a similar campaign, Operation Safe Drive, started by their counterparts in Mysuru.