Over 134K seatbelt violators apprehended

CEBU, Philippines — Over 134,000 drivers have been apprehended nationwide for seatbelt law violation in 2024, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) revealed yesterday.

The aggressive enforcement of the law on the use of seatbelt resulted in the collection of P179.9 million as fine from the violators. Based on the LTO data, LTO-CALABARZON has the most number of apprehended violators with 32,485 followed by LTO-Region 3 with 10,774; and LTO-Region 6 with 10,270.

Of the 134,147 apprehended for such violation from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, a total of 124,712 of them have already settled the penalties, 53 are still contesting the violation while the rest are yet to settle the fine.

“This is proof that we are serious in implementing this law. Kung noon ay kaya pang lusutan, ngayon ay hindi na especially that we are embarking on an aggressive campaign for the use of seatbelt this year,” LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said in a statement.

In line with this, Mendoza appeals to motorists to strictly follow the law now for one’s own safety.

“So we appeal to our motorists to strictly follow the law because as our DOTr Secretary Jiame J. Bautista has been saying, this is for their safety and that this is part of the government’s efforts to ensure the safety of all road users,” he added.

Mendoza vowed to sustain the aggressive operations against seatbelt law violators as part of the LTO’s Stop Road Crash campaign.

Aggressive operation will be complemented by an equally aggressive information drive to encourage more motorists to use seatbelts which will involve the local government units, transport groups, and even schools and other stakeholders.

“Our approach on this matter will be two-pronged: the first is on strict enforcement through the deployment of our enforcers and coordination with other law enforcement agencies. The second one is a massive information drive to make motorists realize the importance of wearing a seatbelt,” Mendoza earlier said. – /FPL (FREEMAN)