‘Yung backride ang may violation, hindi ako’

Rider insists his pillion without a helmet should be ticketed

By now, many of you may have already seen this viral video of a rider who was pulled over because his backrider was not wearing a helmet. The incident occurred in Angeles City, Pampanga. While many that shared the video poked fun at the rider's assertion, we feel it's necessary to clarify what the law states when it comes to incidents like this.

Unfortunately, incidents like these are nothing new. In fact, it shows that many of our brothers and sister riders are possibly not be aware of who should be penalized.

It’s always the driver's responsibility to make sure that their passenger / pillion also follow what’s prescribed in our traffic laws.

In the video posted by Wilfredo Cristobal, a motorcycle rider was apprehended by Angeles City’s traffic enforcers because his pillion was not wearing the prescribed standard motorcycle helmet, as stated in RA 10054 or the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009.

Despite the violation being clear as the blue sky, and instead of accepting the traffic violation ticket, the motorcycle rider berated the traffic enforcers and claimed that he was being harassed.

Later in the video, the rider claims he is wearing a helmet (a bicycle helmet), and that his pillion should be penalized / ticketed for not wearing one.

The video, which went viral on social media, has been shared more than 36,000 times and has more than 25,000 comments as of this writing.

How much would be the fee for a no-helmet violation?

For local government units (LGU), the fine for not wearing a standard motorcycle helmet may vary. For example, some cities have ordinances that prescribe a PhP200.00 fine up to PhP500.00 fine for not wearing a standard motorcycle helmet.

For the LTO, they follow what’s prescribed in RA10054 and puts a penalty of PhP1,500.00 for the first offense, PhP3,000.00 for the second offense, PhP5,000.00 for the third offense, and finally, a whopping PhP10,000.00 plus confiscation of the driver’s license.

We hope that this video may serve as a lesson to those who are still not wearing their standard motorcycle helmet. It has to be specifically for motorcycles, with a visor. After all, it's for our own protection.