Mangaluru: Social activist Jayaprakash Ekkur and three volunteers are gearing up to visit shops, homes and neighbourhoods along the Kuthar-Thokottu stretch on Sept 27 and Oct 4, interacting with residents and two-wheeler riders to raise awareness about helmet use.
In 2023, he noticed a television actress riding a two-wheeler without a helmet in a serial. Jayaprakash told TOI : “Several young people have lost their lives in road accidents, and helmetless riding has been a contributing factor in many such cases.
Our sole intention is to create awareness about road safety and encourage riders to make helmet use a habit,” he said. We have also noticed many youngsters riding two-wheelers without helmets along the Kuthar-Thokottu stretch. Helmetless riding has been a long-standing concern for Jayaprakash. Concerned about the influence of such scenes on young viewers, he met the then Mangaluru City police commissioner and urged the police to take action, pointing to the potential impact of television portrayals on road-safety behaviour. After his complaint, police registered a case in Mangaluru and later transferred it to Bengaluru.