‘Safety vests’ to be required for riders in Quezon City

UNEASY RIDERS Motorcycle users submit themselves to inspection at a police checkpoint in Quezon City after the interior department ordered an intensified campaign against bike-riding criminals. Inquirer file photo by JOAN BONDOC

Desperate times call for tough measures. To help curb theft and murders committed by motorcycle criminals “riding in tandem,”A proposed ordinance may soon require motorcycle riders in Quezon City to wear not just a helmet but a “safety vest” that displays their license plate number in letters and numbers six inches in size.

The ordinance was introduced by Councilor Ranulfo Ludovica as a deterrent against crimes carried out by motorcycle-riding men and passed on third and final reading by the city council on Monday afternoon. “To help the law-abiding citizens, police authorities and other law enforcers in the identification of the driver and back rider, as well as the owner of the vehicle, there is an imperative need for the visible display of a motorcycle’s plate number which can immediately be verified with the Land Transportation Office in case of involvement in criminal activity or vehicular accidents,” he said.

Both the motorcycle driver and his rider should wear vests showing the vehicle’s license plate number. “The nonwearing of the prescribed safety vests … would promptly call the attention of the people, police authorities and other law enforcers, or might create the presumption that the motorcycle is either unregistered or being used for [an] unlawful activity,” he added.

Violators face penalties ranging from P1,000 to P5,000 in fines, community service to imprisonment of a year depending on the number of times they were caught.–Jaymee T. Gamil