Child car seats are required starting February 2

With the implementation of the Republic Act 11229 or Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, car seats for kids will then be required for those 12 years old and below, with the said age group also prohibited from occupying the front passenger seat.

Despite its immediate implementation, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) along with its deputized law enforcement agencies won’t be issuing traffic citation tickets to those who will fail to comply with this requirement. Instead, from 2 to 6 months, the authorities would first embark on a massive information drive, therefore, ensuring the smooth enforcement of this law. 

Apart from that, this should also give motorists the allotted time to acquire the much-needed car seats for the young ones. The law states that a child must be secured in a restraint system unless he or she is at least 4.92 ft. tall and can properly be fastened on a standard seatbelt.

During a press briefing hosted by Buckle Up Kids PH last Friday, deputy director of the LTO Law Enforcement Service, Robert Valera, said that the car seats should be appropriate to the child’s age, weight, and height. He even said that they will be on warning mode, with proper information dissemination is expected to be done in order to well implement this law. Furthermore, Valera stated that they shall be informing parents with regards to the importance of this law. 

As based on the data presented, 12,487 deaths were recorded in 2018 alone due to road accidents, which is perhaps why the authorities were convinced to push this safety measure immediately. For the first offense, violators are fined P1,000, go on for a second time and a P2,000 fine will be imposed. Lastly, third-time violators will be subjected to a P5,000 fine along with the one-year suspension of their driver’s license.