Punjab is moving towards stricter enforcement of one of the most basic motorcycle safety requirements: rear-view mirrors and working indicators.
According to recent reports, Punjab Traffic Police has prepared proposals to make these safety features enforceable through amendments to the Motor Vehicles law. Authorities have also called for motorcycle manufacturers to ensure that side mirrors are permanently fitted to future motorcycles.
And honestly, this is a rule that deserves support.
In Pakistan, we often treat motorcycle mirrors and indicators as optional accessories. Many riders remove the mirrors because they believe the bike looks cleaner without them. Indicators are sometimes removed, broken, or simply ignored. But the moment you ride in dense traffic, these small components become extremely important.
Mirrors Are Not Decoration
A rear-view mirror gives a rider information that their eyes cannot reliably provide while looking forward.
Imagine a motorcyclist travelling through Lahore traffic and suddenly deciding to move from one lane to another. Without mirrors, the rider has to turn their head to check the traffic behind them. That split-second movement can mean losing control, drifting into another lane or missing a vehicle approaching from behind.
Punjab Police’s own traffic guidance emphasizes the importance of rear-view mirrors and signals, including checking the mirror and using indicators before turning or changing direction.
For a motorcycle, where the rider has virtually no physical protection around them, situational awareness is safety equipment.
Indicators Communicate With Everyone Around You
Indicators serve another important purpose: communication.
When you activate your indicator before changing lanes or turning, you are telling the driver or rider behind you what you intend to do.
That gives them time to slow down, maintain distance or adjust their position.
Punjab Traffic Police has previously highlighted that functional indicators improve lane discipline and traffic flow, while a specific Rs. 2,000 fine for motorcycles without working indicators has also been reported in Punjab.
This isn’t about making life difficult for motorcyclists. It is about reducing uncertainty on already chaotic roads.
But Enforcement Must Be Fair
Supporting the rule does not mean supporting careless enforcement.
If the government wants every motorcycle to have proper mirrors and indicators, manufacturers should also be held responsible for providing good-quality, properly mounted equipment from the factory.
There should also be a reasonable grace period for riders whose mirrors or indicators have been damaged or stolen.
Most importantly, enforcement should be about road safety, not simply generating challan revenue.
Traffic police should target the entire spectrum of dangerous behaviour: wrong-way driving, red-light violations, reckless lane changes, one-wheeling, dangerous overtaking, excessive speed and driving without lights at night.
A rider with two mirrors should not be treated as a safe rider if he is simultaneously running red lights or driving against traffic.
Motorcyclists Should Welcome This
As motorcycle riders, we need to stop looking at every new safety rule as an attack on bikers.
A mirror costs relatively little compared with the potential cost of an accident. An indicator is even cheaper. Yet these basic components can prevent a rider from making a dangerous manoeuvre without realizing what is happening behind them.
Punjab Traffic Police has described missing mirrors and indicators as significant road-safety concerns and has linked their absence to increased accident risks.
The bigger question is not “Why should I pay a challan for not having a mirror?”
The better question is:
“Why would I deliberately ride a motorcycle without being able to see what’s happening behind me?”
Pakistan already has enough road-safety problems. We don’t need to create additional risks by removing equipment that motorcycles were designed to have in the first place.
So yes, Punjab should enforce the requirement for rear-view mirrors and working indicators.
But it should do so consistently, transparently and alongside serious enforcement of other dangerous traffic violations.
Because ultimately, a mirror isn’t there for the police.
It’s there for the rider who wants to reach home safely.
