Wearing a Helmet on a Motorcycle is Compulsory in the Philippines
R.A. 10054 aka “Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009” was passed on March 23, 2010.
The Land Transportation Office [LTO] announced that it would start enforcing the law from August 1, 2012.
Implementation of the law was postponed until January 1, 2013.
On the 27th July the Department of Transportation and Communications [DOTC] ordered the LTO to postpone the implementation of the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009 until January 1, 2013. They didn’t have enough time, or enough “PS” and “ICC” stickers to authenticate all the helmets in time.
The penalties for a Motorcyclist without a helmet are:
First Offence: 1,000 peso fine
Second Offence: 3,000 peso fine
Third Offence: 5,000 peso fine
Fourth and further Offences: 10,000 peso fine and confiscation of driver’s license
Fines also apply for non-compliant and substandard helmets, and helmets without the genuine “PS” and “ICC” stickers.
What is a non-compliant helmet?
The law expresses that the helmets to be used by motorcycle riders are those that comply with the specifications issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (Sec. 3, Id.)
In relation to this provision, the law mandates that only those standard protective motorcycle helmets bearing the Philippine Standard (PS) or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) mark shall be sold in the market.
Basically if it has a “PS” or “ICC” sticker, it should be classed as being compliant.
That might be a pain for foreigners who bring their own helmet, unless they have the ICC sticker?