Look around when you go downtown….try to count who among the motorcycle riders wear helmets.
I did this for three consecutive days, and I found out that out of about 50 motorcycle riders, only two wore helmets.
Try to check the records of the Emergency department of the hospitals here… In a week’s time, how many motorcycle accidents have occurred? Maybe an average of one daily, and more on holidays or special holidays.
How many women in our City or Province have been widowed early, thus, their children are deprived of the love of a father because their husbands died in a motorcycle accident unexpectedly?
In the case of others, they survive; however, they remain a “vegetable” (just lying in bed, unable to talk, and do the activities of daily living due to severe head injuries) for the rest of their lives.
Most often, regret is expressed subtly in this remark: “If only he wore a helmet.”
Republic Act 10054, known as the Motorcycle Helmet Act, was signed into law on March 23, 2010 to protect motorcycle riders from accidents. The provisions of this law include:
All motorcycle riders, including drivers and backriders, are required to wear standard protective motorcycle helmets at all times while driving, whether long or short drives, in any type of road and highway.
Standard protective motorcycle helmets are appropriate types of helmets for motorcycle riders that comply with the specifications issued by the Department of Trade & Industry.
Any person caught not wearing the standard protective motorcycle helmet will be punished with a fine of P1,500 for the first offense, P3,000 for the second offense, P5,000 for the third offense, and P10,000 plus confiscation of the driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses.
Tricycle drivers are exempted from complying with the mandatory wearing of motorcycle helmets.
Every seller and/or dealer of motorcycles should make available, every time a new motorcycle unit is purchased, a new motorcycle helmet that bears the Philippine Standard (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) of the Bureau of Product Standards, and which complies with the standards set by BPS, which the purchaser may buy at his option.
Any seller and/or dealer who violates this requirement will be punished with a fine of not less than P10,000, but not more than P20,000.
All manufacturers and importers of standard protective motorcycle helmets are required to secure a PS license or ICC prior to the sale and distribution of their products. Upon the effectivity of R.A. 10054, only those standard protective motorcycle helmets bearing the PS or ICC mark shall be sold in the market.
The DTI, through the BPS, shall conduct a mandatory testing of all manufactured and imported motorcycle helmets in the Philippines.
The BPS shall periodically issue a list of motorcycle helmet manufacturers and importers and the brands which pass the standards of the BPS, to be published in a newspaper of general circulation or in its website.
Any person who uses, sells, and distributes substandard motorcycle helmets, or those which do not bear the PS mark or the ICC certificate, will be punished with a fine of not less than P3,000 for the first offense, and P5,000 for the second offense, without prejudice to other penalties under Republic Act No. 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
Tampering, alteration, forgery, and imitation of the PS mark and the ICC certificates in the helmets will be punished with a fine of not less than P10,000 but not more than P20,000 without prejudice to other penalties imposed in the Consumer Act.
Isn’t it wonderful that our government has looked into the welfare of the motorcycle riders in our country? But wait…the scenario in our City is not what most of us expected.
Some of our public officials themselves are blocking the implementation of this law and have asked for an exemption! What kind of public officials do we have? No one is above the law so why are they doing this?
Meanwhile, look around and see hundreds of motorcycle riding people without helmets, and imagine the dangers they are exposing themselves to and to the others on the road!
What is your choice? Wear a helmet or be rushed to the intensive care unit? Be sure to make your choice the life-saving one.
Nenita P. Tayko, RN, MAN
Dean, Foundation University College of Nursing
