Lack of awareness of traffic rules is one of the causes of road accidents in the Philippines, according to Chairman Emerson Carlos of the Metro Manila Development Authority.
But the information dissemination of traffic education must go down first within the enforcement agents, he said.
“We should begin with the enforcement agents because they are the ones managing traffic. If we begin with the road users, and our enforcers lack training and education about road safety, nothing will happen,” said Carlos during the Road Safety Forum at the MMDA main office in Makati City Monday.
Carlos said the government must also prioritize teaching the youth by inserting traffic rules and regulations in the school curriculum.
”There should be traffic education and road safety in the high school curriculum. It should be mandatory. The youth need to learn before they reach the age that they could get student permit from LTO [Land Transportation Office],” he said.
Carlos also urged the LTO to enforce written and practical examination to ensure the knowledge of the applicant about road laws and safety.
‘‘This is very alarming. Road accident is the number one killer not only in Metro Manila or in the Philippines, but this is a worldwide trend.
The MMDA came up with the forum on road safety in a bid to stop the increasing numbers of road accident in the metropolis.
Agency records showed that road accidents in Metro Manila has increased with 95,615 incidents in 2015, up by 5,357 compared to the 90,258 cases in 2014.
The total number of deaths last year was 519 up by 101 compared to the 418 deaths listed in 2014. Those injured in road accidents from 2014 to 2015 also increased by 1,000.
Based on the 2015 Metro Manila Accident Recording and Analysis System (MMRAS) report, motorcycles have the “highest fatality accident rate” with 262 the total number of deaths, followed by trucks (129) and private cars (125).
Motorcycles also topped the list of vehicles with the most number of injuries, posting 11,620 shares followed by cars (7,427) and public utility jeepneys (2,161).
MMRAS, a program created by the MMDA aimed to improve road management in the metropolis, recorded 204 deaths and 10, 735 injuries involving motorcycle, making it the most vulnerable to road accidents in 2014. The motorcycles was followed by trucks and cars with the most number of deaths on the same year.
Quezon City topped the list of cities in terms of fatal road traffic accident followed by City of Manila and then Makati. This is because of the following several factors:
– They are Central Business Districts (CBD’s) with high social and economic activity.
– Quezon City has the biggest land area (166.2 sq. km.) among the cities in Metro Manila, so as with the City of Makati and Manila.
– It is noted that five on the seven major thoroughfares such as Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Roxas Boulevard and Radial Road 10 are located within these cities.
The Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group also came up with a report saying most of the road accidents happened because of undisciplined motorists, drunk driving and using mobile phones while driving.
The World Health Organization, in its 2015 report, stated that 1.25 million people have died worldwide because of road accidents, with motorcycle riders comprising 23 percent of deaths.
Records showed that the number of motorcycles has steadily increased over the last three years. The entry of cheap motorcycles in the country and the worsening traffic condition in Metro Manila are seen as the primary reasons in pushing the demand for motorcycles.
