MOTORCYCLE riders should strictly adhere to the specifications of the approved prototypes of barriers for pillion riding to avoid accidents, a police official said Tuesday, July 21, 2020.
Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, Joint Task Force Covid Shield commander, issued the reminder after several social media posts blamed the barriers for accidents.
“These two approved designs, the Bohol prototype and the Angkas design, underwent a thorough study which includes the concept of aerodynamics and were also tested for quality safety standards,” Eleazar said.
“Before approving them, our NTF Against Covid-19 made sure that the barriers are not only effective to shield both the riders from coronavirus infection but also safe from road accidents,” he said. NTF refers to the National Task Force Against Covid-19.
Eleazar said these barriers should be made of materials prescribed in the design and should be installed properly to avoid any accident.
“Iwasan po sana natin yung ‘puwede na yan’ mentality kasi ang pinag-uusapan dito ay ang inyong kaligtasan at ang kaligtasan ng inyong ka-angkas na asawa o partner. The two approved designs have specifications that conformed the quality standard for safety of the riders,” said Eleazar.
Motorcycle back riding has been allowed since July 10 for couples living together in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), provided a barrier is installed between the driver and passenger to prevent transmission of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Since July 10, a total of 10,932 motorcycle riders have been accosted across the country for violating the couple-only rule.
Of the total, 9,649 of them were accosted for unauthorized backriding with no installed barriers while 1,283 of the violators have barriers but their backriders were not their spouses or partners who live with them.
Authorities will start issuing citation tickets to violators on Monday, July 27.
“We ask the motorcycle riders to take advantage of the two-week grace period given to them to comply...The government has already provided the specifications and all they need is to comply,” Eleazar said. (SunStar Philippines)