Death of Addu boy revives calls for mandatory helmets

On Friday, 17-year-old Nawal Mohamed died from severe head injuries after he lost control of his motorcycle in southern Addu City.

His death, the sixth fatality in Addu City, has revived calls for a law on mandatory helmet wearing. The parliament threw out a bill requiring helmets in August.

“Nawal’s father asked me to do everything I can to enforce helmets in Addu. A majority of fatalities here are caused by head injuries,” said Mayor Abdulla ‘Soabe’ Sodiq.

“Everybody wants to implement a policy of wearing of helmets and some people even use it now, but we have no authority to enforce a policy as the parliament rejected helmets and the government has stripped the city council of all of our powers,” he said.