Seat belt

This Act, in the interest of public safety, shall apply to drivers and front seat passengers of public
and private motor vehicles and other vehicles as may be determined by the IRR thereon.

Section 4. Mandatory Use of Seat Belts. — For their own safety, the driver and front seat passengers of a
public or private motor vehicle are required to wear or use their seat belt devices while inside a vehicle
of running engine on any road or thoroughfare: Provided, That for private vehicles, except for jeeps,
jeepneys, vans, buses and such other private vehicles as may be determined in the Implementing Rules
and Regulations (IRR), front and back seat passengers are likewise required to use their seat belt devices
at all times.

In the case of public motor vehicles, the driver shall be required to immediately inform and require the
front seat passengers upon boarding a vehicle of running engine to wear the prescribed seat belts. Any
passenger who refuses to wear seat belts shall not be allowed to continue his/her trip.

For special public service vehicles such as school services and other similar vehicles as may be
determined by the IRR, seat belt devices should be provided and used by both drivers and front seat
passengers as defined herein and the first row passengers immediately behind the driver at all times
while inside a vehicle of running engine.

Operational motor vehicles, both public and private, which are not equipped with the required seat belt
devices, are given one (1) year from the issuance of the IRR by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to
retrofit appropriate seat belt devices in their vehicles.

Section 5. Children Prohibited to Sit in Front Seat. — Infants and/or children with ages six (6) years and
below shall be prohibited to sit in the front seat of any running motor vehicle.

THE USE OF SPECIAL CAR SEATS OR CHILD RESTRAINTs SYSTEMS FOR INFANTS/ CHILDREN

Section 7. Provisions for Seat Belt. — This Act further requires car manufacturers, assemblers and
distributors to ensure that seat belt devices are properly installed before the distribution and sale of the
said vehicles as determined by the IRR thereon: Provided, That manufacturers, assemblers and
distributors of jeepneys may install a pelvic restraint or lap belt only in the driver's and front seat
passengers' seats and this shall be considered as substantial compliance with the requirements of this
Act.

THE USE OF SPECIAL CAR SEATS OR CHILD RESTRAINTs SYSTEMS FOR INFANTS/ CHILDREN
. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the term:

(a) "Motorist" shall refer to the driver of a motor vehicle.

(b) "Seat belt device" shall refer to any strap, webbing or similar device in the form of pelvic restraint or
lap belt, upper torso restraint or shoulder strap or a combination thereof designed to secure a person in
a motor vehicle in order to mitigate the results of any accident, including all necessary buckles and other
fasteners, and all hardware designed for installing such seat belt device in a motor vehicle.

(c) "Motor vehicle" shall refer to both private and public motor vehicle. The term shall not include the
tricycle and motorcycle.

(d) "Private motor vehicle" shall refer to any of the following:

(1) Any motor vehicle owned by individuals and juridical persons for private use;

(2) Any motor vehicle owned by the National Government or any of its agencies, instrumentalities or
political subdivisions, including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries for
official use; and

(3) Any diplomatic vehicle.

(e) "Public motor vehicle" shall refer to public utility vehicle or vehicle for hire.

(f) "Motor vehicle of running engine" shall refer to a vehicle as stated herein, operating and standing on
any road or thoroughfare with engine running.

(g) "Front seat passengers" shall refer to persons on board a public utility vehicle seated at the right side
beside the driver for public utility jeepneys (PUJs) and to passengers seated at the right side beside the
driver and those at the first row immediately behind the driver in the case of public utility buses (PUBs)
and to passengers seated on the right side beside the driver for private motor vehicles.
Helmet

Republic of the Philippines

Fourteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-seventh day of July, two thousand nine.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10054

AN ACT MANDATING ALL MOTORCYCLE RIDERS TO WEAR STANDARD PROTECTIVE

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009".

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to secure and
safeguard its citizenry, particularly the operators or drivers of motorcycles and their passengers,
from the ruinous and extremely injurious effects of fatal or life threatening accidents and crashes.
Towards this end, it shall pursue a more proactive and preventive approach to secure the safety of
motorists, their passengers and pedestrians at all times through the mandatory enforcement of the
use of standard protective motorcycle helmet.

Section 3. Mandatory Use of Motorcycle Helmets. - All motorcycle riders, including drivers and back
riders, shall at all times wear standard protective motorcycle helmets 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 and Industry (DTI).

The DTI shall issue guidelines, which should include the specifications regarding standard protective
motorcycle helmets.

Section 4. Exemption. - Drivers of tricycles shall be exempted from complying with the mandatory
wearing of motorcycle helmets as provided in this Act.
Section 5. Provision of Motorcycle Helmets. - A new motorcycle helmet which bears the Philippine
Standard (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) of the Bureau of Product Standards
(BPS) and complies with the standards set by the BPS shall be made available by every seller
and/or dealer every time a new motorcycle unit is purchased and which the purchaser may buy at
bis option. Failure to comply with the requirements provided under this section shall constitute a
violation of this Act.

Section 6. Implementation. - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), with

The DTI, through the BPS, is mandated to utilize the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) Protocols with regard to the standards that will be applicable to the approval or
disapproval of motorcycle helmets that will be sold in the Philippines.

The DTI, through the BPS, shall conduct a mandatory testing of all manufactured and imported
motorcycle helmets in the Philippines. 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. The BPS shall issue periodically 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.

Upon the effectivity of this Act, only those standard protective motorcycle helmets bearing the PS or
ICC mark shall be sold in the market.

Section 7. Penalties. - (a) Any person caught not wearing the standard protective motorcycle helmet
in violation of this Act shall be punished with a fine of One thousand five hundred pesos
(Php1,500.00) for the first offense; Three thousand pesos (Php3,000.00) for the second offense;
Five thousand pesos (Php5,000.00) for the third offense; and Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00)
plus confiscation of the driver's license for the fourth and succeeding offenses.

(b) Any seller and/or dealer who violates Section 5 of this Act shall be punished with a fine of not
lees than Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) but not more than Twenty thousand pesos
(Php20,000.00).

(c) Any person who uses, sells and distributes substandard motorcycle helmets or those which do
not bear the PS mark or the ICC certificate shall be punished with a fine of not less than Three
thousand pesos (Php3,000.00) for the first offense; and Five thousand pesos (Php5,000.00) for the
second offense, without prejudice to other penalties imposed in Republic Act No. 7394 or the
"Consumer Act of the Philippines".

(d) Tampering, alteration, forgery and imitation of the PS mark and the ICC certificates in the
helmets shall be punished with a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) but not
more than Twenty thousand pesos (Php20,000.00), without prejudice to other penalties imposed in
Republic Act No. 7394 or the "Consumer Act of the Philippines".

Section 8. Nationwide Public Information Campaign. - The LTO, in coordination with the Philippine
Information Agency (PIA), the Department of Education (DepED) and private agencies and
organizations, shall undertake a nationwide information, education and communication (IEC)
campaign for a period of six (6) months for the attainment of the objective s of this Act.
Section 9. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or unconstitutional, the
remainder of this Act or the provisions not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.

Section 10. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 11. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,
(a) "Motor Vehicle" shall mean any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular power using the
public highways, but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street-sweepers, sprinklers, lawn mowers,
bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts, amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on public highways, vehicles
which run only on rails or tracks, and tractors, trailers and traction engines of all kinds used exclusively
for agricultural purposes.

Trailers having any number of wheels, when propelled or intended to be propelled by attachment to a
motor vehicle, shall be classified as separate motor vehicle with no power rating.

(b) "Passenger automobiles" shall mean all pneumatic-tire vehicles of types similar to those usually
known under the following terms: touring car, command car, speedster, sports car, roadster, jeep, cycle,
car (except motor wheel and similar small outfits which are classified with motorcycles), coupe,
landaulet, closed car, limousine, cabriolet, and sedan.

Motor vehicles with changed or rebuilt bodies, such as jeepneys, jitneys, or station wagons, using a
chassis of the usual pneumatic-tire passenger automobile type, shall also be classified as passenger
automobile, if their net allowable carrying capacity, as determined by the Commissioner of Land
Transportation, does not exceed nine passengers and if they are not used primarily for carrying freight
or merchandise.

The distinction between "passenger truck" and "passenger automobile" shall be that of common usage:
Provided, That a motor vehicle registered for more than nine passengers shall be classified as "truck":
And Provided, further, That a "truck with seating compartments at the back not used for hire shall be
registered under special "S" classifications. In case of dispute, the Commissioner of Land Transportation
shall determine the classification to which any special type of motor vehicle belongs.

(c) "Articulated vehicle" shall mean any motor vehicle with a trailer having no front axle and so attached
that part of the trailer rests upon motor vehicle and a substantial part of the weight of the trailer and of
its load is borne by the motor vehicle. Such a trailer shall be called as "semi-trailer."

(d) "Driver" shall mean every and any licensed operator of a motor vehicle.

(e) "Professional driver" shall mean every and any driver hired or paid for driving or operating a motor
vehicle, whether for private use or for hire to the public.
Any person driving his own motor vehicle for hire is a professional driver.

(f) "Owner" shall mean the actual legal owner of a motor vehicle, in whose name such vehicle is duly
registered with the Land Transportation Commission.

The "owner" of a government-owned motor vehicle is the head of the office or the chief of the Bureau
to which the said motor vehicle belongs.

(g) "Dealer" shall mean every person, association, partnership, or corporation making, manufacturing,
constructing, assembling, remodeling, rebuilding, or setting up motor vehicles; and every such entity
acting as agent for the sale of one or more makes, styles, or kinds of motor vehicles, dealing in motor
vehicles, keeping the same in stock or selling same or handling with a view to trading same.

(h) "Garage" shall mean any building in which two or more motor vehicles, either with or without
drivers, are kept ready for hire to the public, but shall not include street stands, public service stations,
or other public places designated by proper authority as parking spaces for motor vehicles for hire while
awaiting or soliciting business.

(i) "Gross weight" shall mean the measured weight of a motor vehicle plus the maximum allowable
carrying capacity in merchandise, freight and/or passenger, as determined by the Commissioner of Land
Transportation.

(j) "Highways" shall mean every public thoroughfare, public boulevard, driveway, avenue, park, alley and
callejon, but shall not include roadway upon grounds owned by private persons, colleges, universities, or
other similar institutions.

(k) "The Commissioner of Land Transportation or his deputies" shall mean the actual or acting chief of
the Land Transportation Commission or such representatives, deputies, or assistants as he may, with the
approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, appoint or designate in writing for the
purpose contemplated by this Act.

(l) "Parking or parked", for the purposes of this Act, shall mean that a motor vehicle is "parked" or
"parking" if it has been brought to a stop on the shoulder or proper edge of a highway, and remains
inactive in that place or close thereto for an appreciable period of time. A motor vehicle which properly
stops merely to discharge a passenger or to take in a waiting passenger, or to load or unload a small
quantity of freight with reasonable dispatch shall not be considered as "parked", if the motor vehicle
again moves away without delay.

(m) "Tourist" shall mean a foreigner who travels from place to place for pleasure or culture.

Section 38. Classification of highways. - Public highways shall be properly classified for traffic purposes
by the provincial board, municipal board or city council having jurisdiction over them, and said provincial
board, municipal board or city council shall provide appropriate signs therefor, subject to the approval
of the Commissioner. It shall be the duty of every provincial, city and municipal secretary to certify to
the Commissioner the names, locations, and limits of all "through streets" designated as such by the
provincial board, municipal board or council.