Do people in the Philippines usually wear seatbelts in the back seat?
Could you also tell me what country you're from? I think that would help me understand the cultural differences.
When I'm in a slow-moving car, I don't wear one, but I do when the speed goes up, like on a highway. When I took a Grab, the seatbelt buckle sometimes didn't work or wasn't there at all. When I mentioned it, the driver usually laughed it off and said things like, "It's the back seat, why do you need a seatbelt, sir?" or "You'll be fine, sir."
From my experience, not wearing a seatbelt in the back seat is much more common in developing countries than in developed ones. (Source: I've traveled to more than 70 countries as a digital nomad.)
Why do you think people in developing countries seem to care less about seatbelts? Or if your experience has been different, I'd love to hear how you've seen it.
Not wearing a seatbelt is foolish anywhere. The same goes for not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. Speed doesn't matter… I've seen whole families on one motorcycle without helmets, and no one stops a parent from holding a baby in their arms. I've never once seen a child car seat in the Philippines. It seems parents just think it's fine to hold the baby.
I've experienced it too, and it was weird. The first Grab I took after arriving in Manila had seatbelts in the back, but there were no buckles to clip them into. I think they were probably tucked under the seat.
I'm Irish, and in the Philippines when I drive I insist that people in the back seat wear their seatbelts too. Everyone reacts like I'm the weird one.
Under the Philippine seatbelt law, if a passenger (front or back seat) gets hurt or killed because they didn't wear a seatbelt, the driver can be held criminally and civilly liable for damages. I think it's more that people don't know than that they don't care.
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