If you are elderly with a mobility problem or a parent who needs to bring your children someplace else, your option a few years ago would be limited to calling a pedicab or tricycle, especially if the trip is just a few kilometers away.
Booking a taxi or ride-hailing, while convenient, can be expensive, while riding a jeepney or bus would be fraught with danger for an elderly or a parent with children in tow.
Enter electric tricycles or e-trikes from China that are affordable. They don’t need to be registered with the Land Transportation Office (local government registration will do), and can be operated by anyone even without a valid driver’s license.
All of a sudden, elderly individuals, parents and even students now have a means to drive anywhere, anytime. It’s like having their own cars but without worrying about the price of fuel since they only need to make sure their e-trikes’ have a fully charged battery.
But here lies the problem. Exasperated motorists complain that e-trikes can now be seen anywhere and since they move at a much lower speed, they often disrupt the flow of traffic, especially on busy roads (they shouldn’t be in main roads in the first place).
This difference in speed could force other motorists to overtake or make sudden lane changes that may result in accidents.
Moreover, motorists say that a lot of these e-trikes do not follow basic traffic rules.
Because a number of these e-trikes have inadequate or worse, no longer have working lights and turn signals, they pose a danger to other road users. Without properly working signal lights, e-trike operators cannot adequately warn road users about their intention to change lane or to go left or right, increasing the risk of collisions.
Cyclists and pedestrians are also not happy since these e-trikes move silently and sometimes startle them whenever they come darting from behind. Weighing around 500 kilograms, a collision with e-trikes could result to something worse for cyclists or pedestrians.
Currently, LTO Administrative Order No. 2021-039 (or the Consolidated Guidelines in the Classification, Registration, and Operation of All Types of Electric Motor Vehicles), allows e-trikes to be operated without the need to be registered or their operators having a driver’s license.
After all, their top speed does not exceed 25 kilometers per hour. But passengers are required to wear a helmet that is “similar to those designed for bicycles,” while those able to go up to 50 km/h require a “motorcycle helmet.”
Supporters welcome their presence since they allow the elderly or those who find long walks already a challenge, to move wherever they want without depending so much on public transport. The fact that these e-trikes don’t need fuel and thus, emit no air pollutants, is also good news for families keeping an eye on their budget.
But seeing how these e-trikes are being operated by their owners — like personal cars that they could drive anywhere they like — is not helping the cause of their supporters. It’s also alarming to see e-trikes on national highways being operated by grade schoolers with their classmates as passengers.
We should not wait for one gruesome or high-profile accident before we compel the authorities to enforce the limitations set on the use of e-trikes.
The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines even recommends measures such as improving vehicle stability (e-trikes are more susceptible to tipping over, especially during sharp turns or when traversing uneven road surfaces), implementing stringent driver training and licensing requirements, and enhancing road infrastructure to mitigate the dangers associated with e-trikes.
One should also take note that overcharging e-trikes often leads to fires. Some models do not have an automatic switch mechanism that would stop charging once the battery gets full. It should be noted that water will not be enough to extinguish a burning e-trike battery and requires a CO2-dispensing Class-C fire extinguisher.
It is crucial to address the significant safety concerns that e-trikes pose to their owners and others while on the road.
