Sikh community exempt from helmet laws in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Sikh community has been granted exemption from helmet laws in Peshawar due to their religious headdress.

The issue was raised in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly by minority member Sardar Ranjeet Singh and Peshawar police allowed the exemption.

The exemption applies to members of the community who are wearing turbans while riding motorcycles.



The SSP of traffic in Peshawar Kashif Zulfiqar assured full cooperation with minority communities. As many as 60,000 Sikhs live in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), including 15,000 who live in Peshawar alone.

Lahore has been clamping down on motorcyclists who do not use helmets.

By the end of September, the City Traffic Police Lahore (CTPL) had issued over 58,066 tickets to motorcyclists riding without helmets in the provincial capital. The campaign to crack down on helmetless motorcyclists kicked off on September 24.



The prices of helmets surged in the city after the crackdown.

After the CTPL launched the campaign, the prices of helmets rose. A helmet that was being sold between Rs400 and Rs500 jumped up to between Rs1,000 and Rs1,500. Authorities seemed helpless in controlling the prices.