You know how we’d jokingly tell our peers that we’d adjust for them when they complain about something they can do anyway? “Sige, kami na mag-a-adjust” vibe.
We’ve kinda been channeling the same mood since this pandemic started, S/O to certain government officials. And it looks like the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has a suggestion if any of you kids are too tall for booster seats: “Laki-lakihan mo ang sasakyan mo.” Uh, what?
On Feb. 1, radio host Amy Perez (more popularly referred to as T’yang Amy) interviewed LTO director Clarence Guinto on Sakto, an infotainment segment on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo channel, on RA 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.
Effective Feb. 2, this law requires all vehicles to install booster seats for children ages 12 and below. This also means children in the same age range will not be allowed to take the shotgun (or passenger) seat.
Some children do get their growth spurts early, and putting them in booster seats might cause them more harm than good as it could get their heads too close to the roof of the vehicle.
Perez asked Guinto about this possible problem, to which the LTO official replied, “Siguro, ma’am, laki-lakihan mo na lang ’yung sasakyan niyo.”
Netizens called this out, saying the answer “lacked common sense” (my same sentiments toward LTO’s attempt to school us on traffic rules with an “It Really Hurts” TikTok video).
And that’s just one concern because there are plenty: car and booster seats are pretty expensive. And if you’ve got a few kids in the family, fitting those seats in the vehicle is another story.
Sure, the comment was made in jest and Guinto eventually apologized for his statement. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that it seems like LTO hasn’t fully thought out this scheme because as Guinto told the radio host, LTO will just “take note” of this concern.
Which doesn’t make sense because the law takes effect tomorrow. This scheme was approved almost two years ago, on Feb. 22, 2019, which certainly gave the LTO plenty of time to think about all the possible concerns before implementing the law.
But hey, if only the average Filipino family can afford to just buy a bigger car to accommodate booster seats, right?
Read more:
This is how you keep your cool on (or off) national TV a la Pinky Webb
20 WTF-inducing events that happened in 2020
Gov’t asks UP to stop putting them on blast, slide into their DMs instead
Art by Yel Sayo