Father, 9-Year-Old Son Killed on a Motorcycle in Jaffna — Does Anyone Actually Enforce Kids' Helmets?

A father and his 9-year-old son died this week when their motorcycle collided with a van near Chavakachcheri, Jaffna. Sri Lanka's helmet law has no age exception — rider and pillion must both wear one, whether the pillion is an adult or a child. In practice, kids ride helmetless every day, especially on short trips to school, the kade, or a relative's house in villages where a bus or tuk fare isn't always an option. One side says the law already exists, the problem is enforcement — checkpoints stop adults riding bare-headed but rarely question a parent carrying a helmetless child, and that gap is what gets people killed. The other side says blaming parents ignores reality: proper child-sized helmets are hard to find and expensive here, a car seat isn't realistic for most rural families, and a motorcycle is often the only vehicle they own. Have you ever actually seen police stop someone over a helmetless child on a bike? And could you even find a decent child-sized helmet nearby if you wanted one? ළමයින්ව හෙල්මට් නැතුව බයිකේ ගෙනියනවා හැම තැනම පෙනෙනවා. ඔබ දැක්කද පොලිස් ඒක ගැන අහන හැටි?