More than 14,500 erring motorists were cited for various traffic violations via the Metro Manila Development Authority’s no contact apprehension system in the last four months, MMDA chairman Danilo Lim said.
The series of apprehensions from May 24 to Aug. 18 made through the scheme, where traffic violations are recorded using CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras strategically placed along Metro Manila roads.
The agency also used the No Contact Apprehension policy in apprehending violators of the Anti-Distracted Driving Act, a law prohibiting public utility and private vehicles drivers to use their phones and other mobile devices while on the road.
Most of those caught by the CCTV were drivers who violated speed limit, illegal parking, disregarding the no-loading and unloading zone, beating the red light, swerving, blocking intersections, disregarding traffic signs, making illegal turns, illegal overtaking, entering the yellow lane, defying the closed door policy and bus segregation scheme, motorcycle lane, among others.
Lim said under the policy, the MMDA will send summons or notice to the vehicle’s owner or operator to identify the driver of the vehicle during the time the traffic violation was captured by the CCTV camera.
The notice, which will be sent to the owner or operator, contains the date, time, location and traffic violation. It also contains a statement that the motorist has the right to contest before the MMDA-Traffic Adjudication Division within seven days upon receipt of the summons.
Within 15 days from receipt of the adverse TAD resolution, the driver may still file a motion for reconsideration. If the MR is denied, the driver may file an appeal before the Office of the Chairman where the decision shall be final and executory.
“The drivers will not be able to renew the vehicle registration until the fines are settled,” said Lim.
The MMDA hired deaf and mute individuals to assist Metro Base personnel in manning the monitors of CCTV cameras installed on major thoroughfares used in the policy.
The MMDA has a total of 45 personnel manning the Metro Base—five persons per shift in charge of monitoring footbridges for vendors, road incidents, traffic video wall operations while 10 persons per shift in charge of monitoring the operations of the No Contact policy.
At present, there are 250 CCTV cameras installed in strategic areas in Metro Manila.
Aside from the No Contact policy, the MMDA also impounded 786 vehicles and issued citation tickets to 2,920 drivers in connection with the agency’s anti-illegal parking campaign during the last four months.
Meanwhile, Senator JV Ejercito, vice-chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, renewed his call for the immediate enactment of road safety measures that he has filed in the Senate.
Speaking before delegates at the “Road Safety in Asia 2017” forum held at Heritage Hotel, Ejercito cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which showed a consistent climb of the number of road accident deaths.
According to the PSA, in 2006, the country registered 6,869 deaths due to road crash. But in 2014, the country registered 8,666 road crash-related deaths- or 1,797 more than the 2006 death toll.
The PSA records also showed that 56 percent of road traffic fatalities were due to motorcycle accidents. Since 2010, motorcycle riders have been the top victims of road crashes, followed by pedestrians at 19 percent, drivers of four-wheeled vehicles at 14 percent, and their passengers at 11 percent.
The Department of Health, on the other hand, has said that road accident is the fourth leading cause of death in the country, with at least one person killed every 17 hours, an average of 43 Filipinos killed every month; and 509 people killed every year.
Among the measures Ejercito has been pushing to promote road safety are Senate Bill No. 1446 (SBN 1446), or the “Anti-Overloading Act of 2017,” SBN 1457, or the “Dash Cam Law,” and SBN 1447, or the “Child Safety in Motor Vehicle Act of 2017.”
He has also filed SBN 1375, which seeks to create the National Transportation Safety Board that shall engage in the investigation and determination of probable cause of transportation accidents involving all types of public utility vehicles or vessels.
“Also, although I am not one of the authors, I am actively campaigning for the proper implementation of the Anti-Distracted Driving Law, or ADDA, that bans the use of hand-held gadgets such as cellphones, tablets, among others,” Ejercito said.
Meanwhile, the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in collaboration with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRap) hosted the 10th annual Asia Pacific Road Safety Forum in Manila in the wake of the need to address one of the top ten killers in the world.
About 250 road safety stakeholders and advocates from all over the Asia Pacific joined the event in which speakers talked about helmet and child safety seat standards, road assessment programs, sharing of best practices and working together to halve the global deaths due to road crashes by 2020. Participants came from Thailand, Vietnam, India, China, Nepal, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Global Road Safety Partnership CEO Dave Cliff said the numbers have gone up to 1.34 million road crash fatalities per year.
The World Health Organization launched a Save Lives package that provides countries with an easy and implementable priority list of actions on road safety.
“The save lives package talks about six key components and 22 interventions countries can base on to address road safety,” say Jonathon Passmore of the World Health Organization.
The six components in the WHO Save Lives package include speed management, leadership on road safety, infrastructure design and improvement, vehicle safety standards, enforcement and post-crash survival. All components help countries reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on road safety.
Rob McInerney, chief executive officer of iRap, also stressed the need for “3-stars or better” roads in the countries and presented studies that address economics and decrease in the number of road crash deaths and injury. A star-rating objectively measures the risk of death and serious injury on roads for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and vehicle occupants.
Star ratings are raised by providing proven safety features like pedestrian crossings, safe intersection layouts, safety barriers and road markings.
WHO studies showed that road crashes are preventable citing risk factors involved. Because it is preventable, the use of road ‘crashes’ is more appropriate instead of ‘accidents’ to refer to traffic incidents.