Mandatory motorcycle helmet use law

The State must secure and safeguard citizens, particularly motorcycle operators/drivers and their passengers, from fatal or life-threatening effects of motorcycle accidents and crashes (Section 2).
The State must adopt a more proactive and preventive approach to secure the safety of motorists, their passengers, and pedestrians through mandatory enforcement of standard protective motorcycle helmet use (Section 2).

All motorcycle riders—including drivers and back riders—must wear standard protective motorcycle helmets at all times while driving, for both long and short drives, on any type of road and highway (Section 3).
Drivers of tricycles are exempt from the mandatory wearing of motorcycle helmets under the Act (Section 4).

Standard protective motorcycle helmets must be appropriate types of helmets for motorcycle riders that comply with specifications issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (Section 3).
Helmets must bear the Philippine Standard (PS) mark or the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) of the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) to be sold in the market upon effectivity (Section 6).
Sellers and dealers must provide helmets that bear the PS mark or ICC and comply with BPS standards (Section 5).

Every seller and/or dealer must make available a new motorcycle helmet bearing the PS mark or ICC and compliant with BPS standards every time a new motorcycle unit is purchased, and the purchaser may buy it at his or her option (Section 5).
Failure to comply with the helmet availability and PS/ICC compliance requirement constitutes a violation of the Act (Section 5).
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), with its attached agency Land Transportation Office (LTO), must issue the guidelines necessary to implement the Act (Section 6).
The DTI, through the BPS, must use UNECE Protocols for the standards applicable to approval or disapproval of motorcycle helmets sold in the Philippines (Section 6).
The BPS must conduct mandatory testing of all manufactured and imported motorcycle helmets in the Philippines (Section 6).
All manufacturers and importers of standard protective motorcycle helmets must secure a PS license or ICC prior to sale and distribution (Section 6).
The BPS must periodically issue a list of helmet manufacturers and importers and the brands that pass BPS standards, and publish the list in a newspaper of general circulation or in its website (Section 6).
Upon effectivity, only helmets bearing the PS mark or ICC may be sold in the market (Section 6).

The LTO, coordinated with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the Department of Education (DepED), and private agencies and organizations, must undertake a nationwide information, education and communication (IEC) campaign.
The IEC campaign must run for six (6) months to attain the objectives of the Act (Section 8).

A rider caught not wearing the standard protective motorcycle helmet in violation of the Act must pay:
- PHP 1,500.00 for the first offense,
- PHP 3,000.00 for the second offense,
- PHP 5,000.00 for the third offense,
- PHP 10,000.00 plus confiscation of the driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses (Section 7(a)).
A seller and/or dealer who violates Section 5 must pay a fine not less than PHP 10,000.00 but not more than PHP 20,000.00 (Section 7(b)).
A person who uses, sells, or distributes substandard motorcycle helmets, or helmets that do not bear the PS mark or ICC certificate, must pay:
- PHP 3,000.00 for the first offense,
- PHP 5,000.00 for the second offense,
- without prejudice to other penalties under Republic Act No. 7394 (the “Consumer Act of the Philippines”) (Section 7(c)).
Tampering, alteration, forgery, or imitation of the PS mark and ICC certificates in helmets must be punished with a fine not less than PHP 10,000.00 but not more than PHP 20,000.00, without prejudice to other penalties under Republic Act No. 7394 (Section 7(d)).

All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the Act are repealed or modified accordingly (Section 10).
If any provision or part is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act remains valid and subsisting (Section 9).