Children will no longer be allowed to occupy the front seat of a car following the approval of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.
According to the IRR of Republic Act No. 11229, children 12 years and below will be prohibited from occupying the front seat. The law also mandates drivers to use child restraint systems (CRS) to ensure the safety of a child while in transit.
Under the law, the CRS should be appropriate for the child’s age, height and weight and should be approved in accordance with United Nations Regulation No. 44 and United Nations Regulation No. 129.
Exempted from the law are children who are at least 150 centimeters or 4’11 and can be properly secured by a regular seatbelt.
Motorists who will violate the rule will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second offense, while third-time violators will be fined P5,000 along with suspension of their driver’s license for a period of one year.
The IRR also stated that mandatory compliance with RA 11229 shall only be enforced by February 2021, or after a year of the rules’ effectivity.
Meanwhile, the law also mandates the Department of Transportation to conduct a study and to recommend to Congress the usage of CRS in public utility vehicles and other types of vehicles used for public transport.
