‘Unaware of rules’, Indian couple caught riding with a child in Sydney

*This article originally appeared on https://www.sbs.com.au A scooter rider who had just returned from India has copped a massive fine along with demerit points for multiple traffic offenses in Sydney last week. The 67-year-old man was stopped by the Quakers Hill police on Wentworth Street in the north-western suburb of The Ponds after the police patrol was informed of a rider, who was triple riding with unhelmeted passengers, one of whom happened to be a child. When intercepted at around 2.35 pm on Thursday, the police found that the rider was accompanied by his 59-year-old wife and their 6-year-old grandson, who wasn’t in a sidecar as the rule warrants. The rider produced an Indian driver’s licence and was also breath tested which returned a negative result. The NSW police told SBS Punjabi that the rider was charged with the following infringements: (1) Ride with the passenger without a helmet - $344 and 3 demerit points. (2) Ride with a passenger under 8 years, not in a sidecar - $344 and 3 demerit points. (3) Ride with more than one passenger - $344 and 3 demerit points. In addition, the adult female passenger was fined $344 for not wearing a helmet, with no demerit points. The above are penalty notice offences which if paid will conclude the matter without the need to appear in court. The Roads & Maritime Services has strict guidelines in NSW, calling for all riders and passengers to wear approved motorcycle helmets without any exceptions. It has also laid down strict rules for accompanying children. According to the rule book, any child accompanying a motorcyclist must be carried in a sidecar, wearing a correctly fitted and securely fastened approved helmet and has to be safely seated. Before carrying any passenger, the rider must have held a motorcycle rider licence for at least 12 months (not including a learner rider licence). Learner and Provisional P1 riders cannot carry passengers. The police said that when they questioned the rider about why he was flouting the traffic rules, the rider said he had just returned from India and was “unaware of the rules." This comes at a time when India has stepped up its traffic penalties to instil fear in people who violate traffic rules, where non-compliance of traffic regulations is arguably a common occurrence.