Children are vulnerable so when travelling in private vehicles, they will have to be secured in car seats to protect them from possible injury in the event of a road crash.
This is the message the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and road safety advocates will be telling the public in the coming weeks and months following the rollout of the car restraint system (CRS) law or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act (RA 11229).
The law, which takes effect on Feb. 2, is a response to what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls the top killer of people aged five to 29 years old worldwide — road crashes.
A child can be ejected from a vehicle or hit its interior, and not even the tightest embrace of a parent could stop a child from being injured or killed in case of a crash, say safety advocates.
A car seat or CRS that is appropriate to a kid’s age, height and weight, will protect the child while travelling.
The LTO assures the public that there will be no apprehensions for now. Instead, it will focus on informing the public of the need for the CRS in private vehicles.
Public utility vehicles like taxis, vans, school buses and regular passenger buses are not covered by the law but the Department of Transportation will be conducting a feasibility study to determine if public transport will be required to adopt CRS use.
Know more about the law from the images.
