Kiddie car seats

Requiring the use of kiddie seats in cars is a good idea. It could save children from serious injuries or death in car accidents. My grandkids use such seats in the US and Singapore… and bring those seats here when they visit.

What was wrong was how the Land Transportation Office (LTO) attempted to implement a law mandating those car seats starting last Monday. Not only were most people surprised by a new requirement, an LTO official insensitively suggested the need to buy bigger cars for those with big kids.

The official’s sarcastic comment inspired a number of memes. I sent one of those to DOTr Secretary Art Tugade. Sec. Art was not amused.

He texted me back saying “no substitute for respect and courtesy in making replies. We are in government service. Shall discuss with Gen. Edgar Galvante the substantive aspect, as well as protocols in replies. Thanks for bringing up the matter to my attention.”

Before long, the LTO official was apologizing and claimed he was only joking. He should be reassigned to some faraway region where he can do no damage… not Metro Manila.

Actually, I was warning Sec. Art that the LTO implementation of the car seat requirement, as well as that of the mandatory car inspection prior to renewal of registration, may boomerang on DOTr and Sec. Art… like that RFID fiasco. Why? Simply because it seems not much thought was given on the details that matter.

Sen. Ralph Recto said it best: “Ang problema kasi, full speed ahead sa mga programa na hindi man lang bumubusina. Widespread consultations do no harm. Policies are like cars – they should be road tested and subjected to independent review.

“But most important, it should be tempered with compassion. Yes, bad driving must be punished and car ownership and operation incur licensing expenses, but the affordability quotient must be studied in every fee and fine imposed.”

The kiddie car seat law was passed a year ago. There was supposed to be a transition period over the last 12 months to prepare the public for implementation. Unfortunately, LTO did nothing during those 12 months.

LTO claims they conducted public hearings, but from the public reaction this week everyone seems to have been taken by surprise.

Where can a parent buy affordable car seats? Those car seats are mostly if not totally imported, and are thus expensive… as much as P60K each.

I asked Sec. Art if LTO did their homework first… crunched numbers to estimate how many such car seats will be required by local motorists and who will supply those seats. If you have two children covered by the law, you need to buy two car seats.

LTO should have worked with DTI to identify and encourage potential local manufacturers. It does not require rocket science to make those car seats. With enough lead time, locally made kiddie car seats could be available on Day One.

LTO has backtracked and announced they will not fully implement the requirement now, but will conduct a public information campaign. They should have thought of that first before that loquacious LTO Metro Manila director opened his mouth.

LTO admitted in a press release that “with the lockdown and limitations in the conduct of activities and travel, the initial plan to conduct a nationwide IEC did not push through.

“Currently, the LTO is in the process of finalizing enforcement protocols, considering that special training is needed due to the involvement of children.”

They knew naman pala they were not prepared to implement, so why did they issue stern warnings that unnecessarily caused parents of young children to worry?

As for the motor vehicle inspection requirement, it is another good idea that will be denounced for bad implementation. If they make going through that system mandatory for renewal of vehicle registration, I am sure it will be a mess.

Why? I am just thinking of what happened last year when they abruptly reduced the number of smoke emission testing centers. They claimed they wanted to improve quality control and cut corruption, but the opposite happened.

With fewer authorized smoke emission centers, long lines of cars blocked traffic as they waited for their turn to be tested. Corruption rose as drivers tried to get ahead of the line. It took our driver a day to have one car tested, a procedure of no more than five minutes.

What they plan to do now is more complicated. It will also be more expensive… P1,800 per inspection. But the real problem will be, can LTO handle it?

I was told by a DOTr official, in an exchange of Viber messages, that they have 12 lanes available for inspection… four lanes at Quezon City, four lanes in Pasay, two lanes in San Fernando and two lanes in Lipa.

If that is all that they have, I am sure they will not be able to handle the volume of vehicles renewing registration every month in Metro Manila.

Indeed, the DOTr official agreed: “You are correct sir that the current MVIS sites will not meet the registration requirements. That is why emission centers are still open and will continue to operate.”

In a Facebook post of Ermin Garcia, a diehard Duterte supporter, he complained about a P4,500 packaged rate for registration to cover the inspection, insurance, and emission. Doesn’t sound too kosher, I guess. The fixers are in business!

I wonder if they will require all those jeepneys to go through MVIS too. Actually, newer cars, five years old or less, should no longer be tested as the car dealers are most likely still maintaining these cars under warranty.

As for the child car seats, how will the school buses be made to comply? The use of the child car seats will drastically reduce the capacity of those vans. Luckily, LTO may have time to work on the school buses with schools still on online mode.

I hope Sec. Art will insist on complete staff work before any of his subordinates open their mouths or launch new projects. The RFID fiasco should have taught them enough lessons. Or maybe, not!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco