A member of the House of Representatives has stated that local users of electric scooters should have permits from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) certifying they have basic understanding of road safety.
Iligan City representative Frederick Siao, author of House Bill 1987 or the Philippine Responsible Driving and Accountability Act, said in a statement that electric scooters can be deadly if the driver is irresponsible or incompetent.
“Electric scooters are motorized and can speed up faster than bicycles. Permits should be a requirement prior to purchase of electric scooters,” Siao said.
The Department of Transportation has earlier disclosed that the LTO is now on the final stages of drafting a memorandum circular that will regulate all electric vehicles – including slow two-wheeled e-bikes – in the country.
In his bill, Siao also proposed the permanent electronic recording of all traffic violations and road safety incidents in every barangay with a national barangay-based road safety incident recording and monitoring system.
“This system shall be linked to the LTO and LTFRB so these agencies can have a more comprehensive way to determine who should be given the privilege to drive on our country’s roads,” he said.
“As part of this system, user-friendly incident reporting mobile apps can be deployed and installed into the smartphones of all barangay officials and barangay tanods,” he added.
Siao said the non-recording of traffic violations and road safety incidents by the responding law enforcers and supervising barangay officials or LGU traffic enforcement office shall be subject to administrative, civil, and criminal action penalties.
“Amicable settlements shall not mean the road safety incident and traffic violations shall not be recorded. They should still be recorded because such incidents are a matter of public safety, public health, and public policy. They are not private incidents of the kind which are not subject to law enforcement,” the lawmaker said.
