A PREGNANT woman and a tricycle driver died while three others were hospitalized in a vehicular accident on Dec. 8 in Dueñas, Iloilo. According to the police, the victims who were in a tricycle were hit by a pick-up that overtook a truck. The pick-up crashed against the tricycle that was running the opposite direction.
Over-speeding is one of the main causes of vehicular accidents. We’re wondering what happened to the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act (RA) 10916 (Road Speed Limiter Act of 2016) that the Department of Transportation and Communications was tasked to draw up.
Speed limiters are a combination of mechanical, electronic and/or communications devices that prevent motorized vehicles from exceeding a speed limit which would be set by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). RA 10916, however, will not only help reduce the number of deadly road accidents caused by over-speeding drivers. It would also help reduce carbon emission and fuel consumption due to over-acceleration. So many drivers do not know that over-acceleration, especially in a traffic situation, can increase their fuel consumption and their carbon emission. In the short-term, these speed limiters could be an additional cost for the operators but they would save more money in the long run because they can better save fuel and their engines would last longer.
Under RA 10916, selected public utility vehicles (PUVs), except for taxies, jeepneys and so-called Transportation Network Vehicles, closed commercial vans, cargo haulers, tanker trucks and company shuttles will now be required to be equipped with speed limiter devices so as not to exceed a pre-set speed limit.
Once implemented, speed limiters become a prerequisite for the registration of new PUVs and other vehicles covered by RA 10916 at the LTO and to obtain new franchises at the LTFRB. Under the new law, LTO and LTFRB are mandated to supervise and inspect the installation and setting of the speed limiters, while the Department of Trade and Industry will accredit the manufacturers and installers of the limiters.
A fine of P50,000 will be meted for non-compliance of the speed limiter law apart from penalties such a one-month driver’s license suspension and/or a three-month vehicle franchise suspension, on the first offense, followed by a three-month driver’s license suspension and/or a six-month vehicle franchise suspension on the second offense. For the third offense or more, the driver’s license will be revoked and/or the owner or operator’s vehicle franchise will be suspended for one year. Those tampering speed limiters will be jailed for up to three years.
The implementation of the Road Speed Limiter law should not be delayed. It improves road safety and saves lives.
