Mind the Gap Communications

[Published as a commentary   on Inquirer.net  on 7 February 2021] That your heart is in the right place matters more than whether you have a big heart. When you are hungry, it matters more that you have food to eat than whether you are having a healthy salad or greasy fries. When you have three children dying every day from a preventable cause such as a road crash, it matters more that you try to bring those numbers down than that you have a road safety plan that pleases everyone but comes 1,095 lives too late, for instance.  ~ Read the full article  by Leah Barona-Cruz on Inquirer.net

MANILA (1 February 2021) - The use of car seats for children 12 years old and below is now required by law in the Philippines and will be enforced starting February 2.   Republic Act 11229, or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, requires that children up to 12 years of age or up to 4’ 11” in height should each be buckled up in a car seat, also called a child restraint system (CRS) while inside a covered private motor vehicle. The car seat used must be suited to the child’s age, height, or weight.  The law further requires that children do not sit in the front seats of vehicles and are never left unaccompanied by an adult, even if strapped in a child car seat.  Private motor vehicles include covered vehicles such as cars, SUVs, AUVs, and vans including those for hire. The law does not cover tricycles, jeepneys, and other public utility vehicles.  Details of the enforcement were discussed in a press conference held online last Friday, January 29. Mr. Bob Valera, deputy director for