PNP to riders: Respect Policies to be enforced on Aug 1

Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Chief for Operations and Joint Task Force COVID Shield Commander PLt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, asked the riders to respect and follow the policies set by the government agencies regarding motorcycle back riding to help prevent COVID 19 infections.

Updated as of July 28

PNP have so far cited 7,000 motorcyle riders from June 10 for not following the guidelines set by by the NTF that allows only married or live-in couples to back ride using the approved barrier or shield designs.

The approved designs are the one proposed by Bohol Governor Yap and the one submitted by Angkas.

According to the PNP, out of the recorded 7091 violators from July 10 to July 18, 6,476 were not married couples or live in partners and were not using the prescribed barriers, while 615 have the barriers but were not partners.

Most of the violators (1,755) came from Region 7 (Central Visayas) followed by Police Regional Office-5 (Bicol) with 741; Police Regional Office-6 (Western Visayas) 737; and Police Regional Office-3  (Central Luzon) with 675.

Aside from those unauthorized backriding, there were 7,680 violators that are legitimate married couples or live in partners but were not using any barriers. They were told to get either 1 of the 2 approved designs before July 26.

The earlier deadline of July 19 was extended by a week to July 26 and finally postponed again to July 31 and the PNP warned that they will be stricter come August 1, the second dedine extension.

Also, the PNP stated that the accidents being reported and circulated on social media were riders not using the prescribed barrier designs or were incorrectly attached to their motorcycles. It was also the statement of the DILG

Yesterday, the four Japanese manufactuer Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki, thru their association the MDPPA, have officially stated that they are against the approved shield design with metal frame attached to the motorcycle like the one proposed by Governor Yap. They cited that it is dangerous and can cause instability that might lead to a crash and may cause major or fatal injuries to the rider and passenger.

Also, the MDPPA states that the motorcycle gears such as the helmet with shield, jacket and gloves are already considered Personal Protective Equipment or PPEs.

The Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers or PSME, also issued a position statement that the barrier is dangerous and may cause accident.

Thank you for visiting insideracing.com.ph.  You may express your thought below through the comment section. You may also follow us on Facebook, on Instagram @Insideracingnation or you can subscribe to our YouTube channel.