LTO places motorcycle under alarm, summons owner over child back-riding violation
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is cracking down harder on reckless drivers and riders, using social media as a powerful tool to expose dangerous behavior on the road. In its latest move, the agency placed a motorcycle under alarm and summoned its registered owner after a viral post revealed the vehicle carrying two back riders which include a child without proper riding gear.
LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor Mendoza II, expressed dismay over the incident, calling it a clear case of irresponsibility that endangered lives, especially that of the child passenger.
“The motorcycle was travelling along a busy road and while the rider and one of the two back riders had helmets, the child who was sitting in the middle had no helmet or any protective gear,” Mendoza said.
The LTO’s social media monitoring team was able to identify the motorcycle owner through details from the viral post. The rider now faces administrative charges, including carrying more passengers than allowed, failure to require a standard protective helmet, and being deemed an improper person to operate a motor vehicle.
The LTO Chief also explained that, in the interest of due process, the agency has summoned the registered owner of the motorcycle to clarify whether he was indeed the one driving at the time of the incident. If confirmed, the owner must also justify why he should not be held liable for the violations committed.
The registered owner has been ordered to appear before the LTO Central Office on October 2 with a written and notarized explanation. Meanwhile, the scooter in the viral video has been placed under alarm pending investigation.
If proven to be the rider, the individual will also face a 90-day preventive suspension of his driver’s license. Failure to appear or submit an explanation will be treated as a waiver of the right to be heard, according to the show cause order signed by LTO Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Renante Melitante.
