Six senators called on the Department of Transportation and (DOTr) the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to postpone the enforcement of the car seat law which requires car seats for those aged 12 and under.
In Senate Resolution No. 633 filed by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, senators Sonny Angara, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Nancy Binay and Sen. Grace Poe, the implementation of the Child Car Seat Law was recommended to be postponed until it has clear guidelines.
Under the law, fines and suspension of driver’s license can be faced by motorists who do not place safety seats for infants or young passengers.
The LTO is still reviewing the rules on how to implement them and is still studying whether public transport needs to be included in this law.
But according to the senators, the car seat law is good because it is for the safety of children but it still has many issues.
Senators, call on DOTr, LTO to postpone car seat law
One of these is the issue of how the LTO would certify that car seats are fit-for-use or undamaged while LTO has not yet established stations for the installation of car seats.
They still do not have the brand and model of car seat certified by the Bureau of Product Standards of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Moreover, the senators said that the DOTr and LTO should consider that it is difficult to earn now due to the pandemic and huge expenses for ordinary workers to buy a car seat.
According to the World Health Organization, children have a high chance of avoiding road accidents if they have a car seat.
From 2006 to 2014 in the Philippines, 17 percent of those aged 19 and under were victims of road crashes. This means that about 1,334 per year or about 4 children die every day due to road accidents.
“‘Yung road safety po kasi maaari natin tukuyin na silent pandemic dahil sa dami ng namamatay dito taon-taon kung saan ang ating kababayan patuloy na nagiging vulnerable sa road crashes partikular ang mga bata. Mas fragile po sila, mas malambot ang buto, mas mabilis po sila masaktan,” said Transportation Assistant Secretary Steven Pastor.