Road safety concerns

Vehicular accidents resulting in multiple deaths seem to have happened one after another in Cebu, particularly on the western side of the province in Toledo City and Balamban.

The most recent incident will again mean some vehicles will be checked for their road worthiness and some drivers not earning anything for a certain period while the franchises of the vehicles they are driving are suspended.

While we laud the efforts taken after accidents, prevention should still be the only option and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) should take the lead in the issuance of licenses and the registration of vehicles.

Forget the drive against those irritating sirens, which President Noynoy Aquino seems to be very angry at, and focus the efforts of the transport authorities on making our roads safer.

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We received email from our good friend Ven Lacustales, who was formerly with Pilipinas Shell, and we'd like to share with you his views.

I always read your column thru internet edition. It is a good column that you do public service. I would like to suggest that you write a column about road safety every now and then. I think the most threatening and alarming issue is how the authorities (LTO, LTFRB and traffic enforcers -CITOM, TEAM, etc) allow trucks and trailers use the road with worn out tires.

In any place you go around, you will always see trucks and trailers loaded with 20 and 40 foot container vans with severely worn out tires, sometimes are running flat and these are potential danger to lives and properties if the van falls on the road. Are you not afraid when you are beside these trucks and trailers with your family inside your car? There must be an ordinance that will strictly regulate and enforce it to protect the motorist and the public. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons in many road accidents that are taking place elsewhere.

Every time I travel, I always ensure that I am not beside these trucks and trailers, but you cannot avoid being beside especially during a heavy traffic situation and just hope the van/s will not accidentally fall on the road.

Hope we can contribute something good for our city.

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We have also received email from concerned Cebuano last Friday. Here it goes:

Good morning! It was a breeze this morning going to Canduman because there were CITOM personnel posted from the Talamban gym all the way to Ateneo de Cebu. I hope this would be a daily thing especially during school days. Now if only they would strictly enforce the law with the motorcycle/habal-habal drivers who think they are not covered by the law weaving in & out of traffic, not wearing helmets for them & their passengers, overloading, blocking the way, making u turn anywhere they care, counterflow and a whole lot more violations being done blatantly right under the noses of those assigned there before. These motorcycles are becoming a growing headache for law abiding motorists in that area. Thank you & kudos to CITOM.

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We'd like to wish our good friend Sylvan 'Jack' Jakosalem all the best as he assumes the chairmanship of the CITOM.

We'd like to assure our readers that our friendship with the CITOM chairman doesn't mean we would take it easy on the traffic body if it commits lapses. We, however, believe that with Jack there, we have a chairman, who we could directly contact in case there are matters that need immediate attention.

More power to you Chairman Jack!

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For your comments, complaints, and suggestions please feel free to contact us at 2531276 or 2538613 local 237.

You can also send email to [email protected].