Car seats for kids now required

MANILA, Philippines — Beginning tomorrow, children below 12 years old are now prohibited from taking the front seats in vehicles, with the implementation of Republic Act 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.

But the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and its deputized law enforcement agencies will not immediately issue traffic citation tickets to violators, as authorities would embark first on a massive information drive for two to six months to ensure smooth enforcement of the measure.

“We will be on the warning mode and information dissemination,” deputy director of the LTO Law Enforcement Service Robert Valera said at a virtual press briefing hosted by Buckle Up Kids PH on Friday.

Valera said the first phase of their enforcement would be informing parents about the importance of the law.

The law also states the driver is required to properly secure a child in a restraint system unless the child is at least 4.92 feet tall and can be properly secured by a regular belt.

Under the law, violators are fined P1,000 for the first offense and P2,000 for the second offense.

Third-time violators will be slapped with a P5,000 fine and one-year suspension of their driver’s license.

Data presented during the press conference showed 12,487 deaths were recorded in 2018 alone due to road accidents.