Starting February 2, the Republic Act No. 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles act will be in effect. The law requires children to be secured in child seats while travelling in private vehicles.
RA 11229 covers children aged 12 years old and below under the height of 4’11”. The law states that said children are to be secured in child restraint systems (CRS) or car seats while travelling in private motor vehicles. The CRS should be appropriate to the child’s age, height, and weight, properly secured in the back seat of the vehicle.
Further, the law also prohibits the following: children from sitting in the front seat, children left unattended in motor vehicles ,and the use of substandard or uncertified CRS.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Office has (LTO) said that it will be in “warning and information dissemination” mode for two to six months. LTO will not issue tickets to violators just yet, but will instead focus first in informing concerned parents about the law.
Under RA 11229, violators will be fined Php 1,000 for the first offense and Php 2,000 for the second offense. A Php 3,000 fine are handed for the use of inappropriate CRS. Third and succeeding offenses will merit a Php 5,000 fine and a one-year suspension of the violator’s driver’s license.
The law was signed by President Duterte in 2019. It aims to ensure the safety of children while being transported in any form of motor vehicle.
In 2018, there were 12,487 recorded deaths related to road accidents in the Philippines.
Source: Top Gear, The LawPhil Project; Image Credit: Unsplash
