The amendment of LTO’s (Land Transport Office) Administrative Order AHS-2008-15 has finally been released.

Memorandum Order No. AHS-2008-01 which has the subject “Revised rules and regulations for the use of operation of motorcycles on highways” is the result of the series of consultations that the LTO conducted with the various representatives of both the Motorcycle Community and Industry.

Critical among the changes introduced is item number 7 which states…

Implementation of paragraph 3, Section 8 of AO No. AHS-2008-15 requiring prior approval of the LTO and the DTI in modifying original standard design of a motorcycle or scooter is hereby suspended, together with Section 11d hereof.

This defuses, at least momentarily, a highly volatile atmosphere in the community which was generally up in arms over the orders broad scope.

Another noteworthy entry of the Order is item number 5 which states..

Section XI a) of AHS-2008-15 shall read as thus:
Sec. XI a) For failure of rider and/or back rider to wear a helmet, a fine of One Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (P1,500.00) with accessory penalty of driver/rider attending a seminar on traffic safety management to be conducted by the LTO.

I believe this is as close as we have gotten to having a national helmet law. While there will surely be some opposition to this item, I think there is much more data to suggest that helmets do save lives as opposed to not doing so. But that is a long discussion for another day. We congratulate all those who have helped in the resolution of this issue and we are happy to see that Government is finally listening to the riders with regards to the laws that directly affect the way we use the roads.

Thank you to Spike of the Alamat Crewsers, Jobert Bolanos of MRO(Motorcycle Rights Organization)/MAP (Motorcycle Advocates of the Philippines) and Henry Reyes of http://philippinemotorcycles.ning.com/and MAP for furnishing MCP with a copy of the Memorandum Order.

You can download a copy of Memo No. AHS-2008-01 here.