Helmet Law to take effect August 1
The Mandatory Helmet Act may have been signed into law in March 2010, but it apparently is only going into effect by August 1, 2012, as posted by motorcycle safety riding organization Safe-T-Ryders on its Facebook page today.
Under the law, motorcycle riders and their passengers are required to wear standard protective helmets "while driving motorcycles, whether on long or short drives, at any time of the day, on any type of road and highway." The law also only exempts tricycle drivers from wearing the protective headgear.
In addition, the law requires that only standard protective helmets that bear either the Philippine Standard (PS) or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) mark of the Bureau of Product Standards be sold to the market.
Motorcyclists and their passengers that violate the law will be fined P1,500 on the first offense, P3,000 on the second offense, P5,000 on the third offense, and P10,000 plus the confiscation of driver's license on the fourth offense.
As for the sellers of helmets that don't bear the PS or ICC mark, they will be punished with a fine of at least P3,0000 on their first offense and P5,000 on their second offense. Sellers that tamper, alter, forge or fake the PS and ICC marks, meanwhile, will be fined not less than P10,000 but not more than P20,000.
It's a good thing then that, even if the law will only take effect on August 1, there are already a lot more motorcylists wearing their helmet now than ever before. Now, if only law enforcement personnel would follow the same rules as the rest of us...
