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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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Second Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The 1987 Constitution, Article 2 Sections 10 and 11 read: 
Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person 
and guarantees full respect for human rights. 
There are motor vehicles designed to provide the desirable benefits of reducing 
harmful pollutants and operating with greater fuel efficiency include gasoline-electric 
hybrid and electric-only vehicles, and in the foreseeable future may include vehicles 
powered by hydrogen fuel cell and other engine designs that rely on fuels and 
technologies other than the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. These vehicle 
engine designs are likely to operate with virtually no sound being produced by the 
vehicle. 
The recently concluded Philippine International Motorshow was reportedly a 
revelation of things to come; the inclusion of hybrid vehicles among the cars on display 
came as a refreshing variation. However, an ongoing study in the United States has 
produced some of the first scientific evidence that hybrid cars may pose a hazard to 
certain pedestrians. 
Blind pedestrians cannot locate and evaluate traffic by sight and instead must 
listen to traffic to discern its speed, direction, and other attributes in order to travel safely 
and independently. Other people, on the other hand, including pedestrians who are not 
blind, bicyclists, runners, and small children, benefit from multi-sensory information 
available from vehicle traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines; 
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Hence, failure to take immediate action assuring that blind pedestrians can hear 
hybrid and other silent vehicles in all phases of their operation will inevitably lead to 
pedestrian injuries and fatalities. 
Such accidents are preventable through vehicle designs which take into account 
the multi-sensory nature of traffic detection and avoidance, and require that vehicles emit 
a minimum level of sound designed to alert all pedestrians, especially blind pedestrians, 
to the presence of such vehicles. 
This bill seeks to direct the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and 
Communication (DOTC) to conduct a study and establish a motor vehicle safety standard 
that will provide for means of alerting blind and other pedestrians of any motor vehicle 
operation. 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
Second Regular Session 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION 
TO STUDY AND ESTABLISH A MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD THAT 
PROVIDES FOR MEANS OF ALERTING BLIND AND OTHER PEDESTRIANS OF 
MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATION. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Pedestrian Safety 
Enhancenient Act of 2008”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of state to value the dignity 
of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights. 
SECTION 3. Dejkition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the term: 
(1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Transportation and Communication; and 
(2) “Motor vehicle” is any vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway 
which is propelled by any power other than muscular power, except: 
(a) Electrically-driven mobility assistance devices operated or driven by a 
person with a disability; 
(b) Vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks; 
(c) Farni type tractors and all terrain type vehicles used exclusively for 
agricultural purposes, or for snow plowing, other than for hire, farm equipment, 
including self-propelled machines used exclusively in growing, harvesting or 
handling farm produce; 
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(d) Self-propelled caterpillar or crawler-type equipment while being 
operated on the contract site; and 
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(e) Fire and police vehicles other than ambulances. 
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SECTION 4. Study of Method to Protect Blind and other Pedestrians. 
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(a) Required Study - Not later than 90 days following enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall conduct a study to - 
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(1) determine the most practical means of assuring that blind and other 
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pedestrians receive substantially similar information to information such 
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pedestrians receive from sound emitted by vehicles that use internal combustion 
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engines; 
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safe travel judgments; and 
(2) determine the minimum level of sound emitted from a motor vehicle 
that is necessary to provide blind pedestrians with the information needed to make 
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including: 
(3) consider whether the minimum level of sound requirement or another 
method that conveys information essential for pedestrian safety provides the most 
reliable information to support safe travel of blind and other pedestrians, 
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(A) which method provides blind and other pedestrians the greatest 
amount of information regarding location, motion, speed, and direction of 
travel of a motor vehicle; 
(B) the cost and feasibility of each method, including the cost and 
feasibility of equipping each individual pedestrian with any technology 
necessary to receive information; and 
(C) which method assures the least reliance by blind and other 
pedestrians upon technology they must possess when traveling and 
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thereby provides the greatest amount of independence and oppoi-tunity for 
spontaneous travel for these pedestrians. 
(b) Required Consultation - When conducting the study, the Secretary shall: 
(1) review all available research regarding the effect of traffic sounds on 
pedestrian safety, and commission such research as may be necessary; 
(2) consult consumer groups representing individuals who are blind, other 
pedestrians, cyclists, and advocates for children; and 
(3) consult with automobile manufacturers and professional organizations 
representing them. 
(c) Report - The Secretary shall complete the study within 2 years of its 
commencement and shall transmit a report of the findings to Congress. 
SECTION 5. Minimum Sound Requirement for Motor Vehicles. - Not later than 
90 days after conclusion of the study required under Section 4, the Secretary shall 
promulgate a motor vehicle safety standard, to establish a method for alerting blind and 
other pedestrians of the presence and operation of nearby motor vehicles to enable such 
pedestrians to travel safely and independently in urban, rural, and residential 
environments. Such standard shall provide that every motor vehicle be equipped with a 
method - 
(1) to provide blind and other pedestrians with a non-visual alert regarding the 
location, motion, speed, and direction of travel of a motor vehicle that provides 
substantially the same protection of such pedestrians as that provided by a motor vehicle 
with an internal combustion engine; and 
(2) that will pernit a blind or other pedestrian to determine the location, motion, 
speed, and direction of travel of a motor vehicle with substantially the same degree of 
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certainty as such pedestrians are able to determine the location, motion, speed, and 
direction of travel of a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine. 
SECTION 6. Appropriations. - To carry out the provisions of this Act, such 
amount as may be necessary is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the National 
Treasury. 
SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid 
or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
remain valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to, 
or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended 
accordingly. 
SECTION 9. Efectivify Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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