While there is a law that promotes the use of seatbelts, it was said to be the most violated law recorded in 2016 (Dayao, 2018). This healthy public policy promotes safety among motorists yet this was mostly ignored by Filipinos despite the benefits it brings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seatbelts prevent the expulsion of drivers and passengers during accidents thus reducing the risk of injury and death in crashes by 45% and 50% respectively if worn during driving.
The target population for compulsory use of seatbelts are drivers, front-seat passengers, and even the passengers in the back to ensure safety during their travel and reduce their risk of acquiring severe consequences in case a crash happens. For me, there is no disadvantage to this public health policy as its benefits are clear for the safety of the people traveling.
However, despite its obvious advantages, I don’t see it being followed nor implemented in my locality because it was never a habit in our country in the first place. Based on my experience riding on public transport, drivers wore their seatbelts only if there are checkpoints that patrol the highway and after that, they remove their seatbelts as if their only purpose was to not get any violations.
Dayao (2018) reported that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) collected ₱80 million pesos from the violations of the act of seatbelt use in 2017. Last year, it was once again hailed as the most violated traffic law according to LTO five years after it became the top violated traffic law (Gonzales, 2022). It’s saddening that after how many years of the law being passed, motorists continue to ignore a policy that was built for everyone’s safety.
REFERENCES:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Policy Impact: Seat Belts. Transportation Safety. https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/seatbeltbrief/index.html#:~:text=Seat%20belts%20dramatically%20reduce%20risk,of%20serious%20injury%20by%2050%25.&text=Seat%20belts%20prevent%20drivers%20and%20passengers%20from%20being%20ejected%20during%20a%20crash.
Dayao, D. L. C. (2018, March 26). Seat Belt Law: The Most Violated Road Rule in the Philippines. Pulitzer Center. https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/seat-belt-law-most-violated-road-rule-philippines
Gonzales, C. (2022, August 31). Failure to wear seat belt is 2021's top traffic violation. Global Daily Mirror.https://globaldailymirror.com/Main/full_article/failure-to-wear-seat-belt-is-2021-s-top-traffic-violation25026