Rep. Arnolfo Teves of Negros Oriental has recently filed House Bill (HB) 153 to amend Section 3 of the Republic Act 10054 or the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009.
According to HB 153, “in boulevards, city, municipal streets and crowded streets where the maximum allowable speed is lower than 40 kilometers per hour, the bill provides that the use of standard protective motorcycle helmets by motorcycle riders, including drivers and back drivers, shall be optional."
For roads where the minium speed will exceed 40 kilometers per hour like national highways or tollways for big bikes, the existing provisions of RA 10054 will be enforced.
Rep. Teves also stated that he authored the bill “to better conform with the traffic situation in the different cities and municipalities around the country.”
While the congressman may have his reasons for proposing the amendment of RA 10054, 2017 data from the MMDA and DOH indicates that motorcyclists were involved in about 53% of the total reported road traffic fatalities. Also on the same year, it was reported that 58.3% of the total crash-related injury cases involved motorcycles and of the total 6,579 reported injuries, only 184 were wearing standard protective helmets, which means that riders are more prone to fatalities if they are not wearing their helmets.
