Child car seat law passed in the Philippines

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I was neck-deep in learning how to install my child's convertible car seat (a Diono Radian 3QXT) when I heard that the Philippines has enacted Republic Act 11229, the "Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act". This law states that children younger than 12 years old are not allowed to ride shotgun; if they are 12 years old and older, they may sit on the front passenger seat if their height is at least 150 cm or they can use the seatbelt properly. Otherwise, they must be placed in child restraints that are installed in the back seat of the motor vehicle. This law is applicable to private vehicles but not to tricycles or motorcycles. This is indeed a step forward towards transportation safety.

Curious, I decided to check out how this law compares with the child restraint laws in the USA and practices in Sweden. I currently live in California and am using its child restraint law for comparison. Sweden, on the other hand, is well-known as a benchmark for best practices regarding child passenger safety so I'm using this for comparison too. The Philippine law mentioned complying with UN Regulations 44 and 129 so I'm comparing with these as well.

How does the Philippines' child car seat law measure up?

Country* Rear seat Rear-facing limits Front-facing
harnessed limits		 Booster
limits
Philippines 0–12 years old, shorter than 4'11" appropriate for age, height, and weight
California, USA 0–8 years old 0–2 years old 2–4 years old 4+ years old,
min 4'9" tall
Sweden shorter than 4'11" 0–5 years old,
max 55 lbs		 N/A 5+ years old,
max 4'5" tall
UN Regulations 44 and 129 up to 3'5" tall 0–15 months old 15 months,
max 3'5" tall		 under development
*Links lead to the references I checked out for this piece.


It is interesting that the age limit for sitting in the front passenger seat is more restrictive in the Philippines than in the other practices. I guess this is to ensure that a child sitting in the front passenger seat (sans the booster seat) is tall and mature enough to use the seatbelt properly. Note that Sweden has the same height limit for restrictions to the rear passenger seats. However, I think that the children sit out front at a younger age there because they tend to be taller than Filipino children. The UN Regulations have the shortest heights for rear-seat restrictions. It's also interesting that Sweden and the UN have regulations or practices based on height rather than age for sitting in the rear passenger seat.

When it comes to choosing the right child restraint system, the language in the Philippines' law is the vaguest. "Appropriate for age, height, and weight" may be different across brands and models of both car seats and cars (I assume that the motorist concerned operates a car). The other regulations and practices are easier to understand because of the specificity of the limits (i.e., age, height).

Though the language on the use of car seats is still vague, this law is definitely a step in the right direction towards protecting children plying the roads in cars or any vehicle with forward-facing seats. I wonder how the law will be enforced, considering that the use of car seats with multiple children typically means the use of minivans (what I call "mommy cars"), which are not exactly readily accessible for many families.

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