Under national law, anyone who rides a motorbike in Timor-Leste, including children, is required to use a motorcycle helmet to avoid traffic accidents, which could led to death and serious injury.
Adults and children are equally at risk, and injuries to the head and neck are a leading cause of death, serious injury and paralysis.
Traffic commander of Dili Municipality Inspector Matias da Silva said that often young children riding as passengers with their parents did not use a helmet and this endangered their lives.
“This law does not distinguish between adults and children, the law says everyone who rides a motorcycle must use a helmet,” he said by phone.
He therefore called on parents to ensure they wore a helmet when riding a motorcycle.
“Parents should be aware themselves that they should use a helmet before riding a motorcycle,” he said.
He said a team of eight police motorbikes were currently conducting routine patrols and arresting motorists that were not wearing helmets or had excessively loud exhaust systems.
Meanwhile, Member of Commission E (responsible for infrastructure, transport and communications) Manuel de Castro Pereira called on police to be disciplined about executing the law.
“Police should be assertive, strong and prioritize the law,” he said.
He also urged the government to share information about proper road conduct to all motorists before they received their driver’s license as people did not have a good understanding of the law and continued to disobey traffic signals.
Local resident Maria da Costa agreed it was important for parents to protect their children’s lives by using helmets when riding a motorcycle.
While there is no specific data available on how many people have died or been injured as a result of not using helmet, based on figures from the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) across Timor’s 13 municipalities, there were a total of 1664 accidents in 2015, resulting in 89 deaths, while 417 were seriously injured and 1158 suffered minor injuries.
