Eight years after the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009 was implemented, riders still ply our country’s roads wearing substandard helmets or none at all.
Motorcycles now make up 55 percent of registered vehicles in the Philippines. Most road crashes in our streets involve motorbikes.
According to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), motorcycles figured in the most number of both fatal and non-fatal crashes in 2016. The World Health Organization says wearing a standard motorcycle helmet correctly can reduce the risk of death by almost 40 percent and the risk of severe injury by over 70 percent.
In Central Luzon, the regional Land Transportation Office (LTO) estimate that 70% of motorcycle riders do not wear helmets.
Road Safety Journalism Fellow Irish Dotillos of Central Luzon TV-36 probes the situation in the region:
This story, first aired on Central Luzon Television-36, is produced under the Bloomberg Initiative Global Road Safety Media Fellowship implemented by the World Health Organization, the Department of Transportation and VERA Files.
