CEBU, Philippines - With the opening of classes and a number of students expected to be using the streets, Councilor Edgardo Labella wants the sidewalks to be free of any obstacles, particularly the roads going to schools, to ensure the safety of the schoolchildren.
In a proposed resolution, which is scheduled to be discussed during the City Council’s session on Wednesday, Labella said one of the reasons why the children are forced to pass by the streets risking their lives of being hit by the speeding vehicles is that the sidewalks where they are supposed to pass by have obstacles.
The proposed measure asks the City Traffic Operations Management to make the city’s roads safer to child pedestrians through a “no-nonsense enforcement of the laws.”
Labella said the statistics of the United Nations Children’s Fund showed that at least one Filipino child dies every hour from accident injuries while about 200,000 a year get hospitalized from accidents.
It was observed that among the common obstacles in sidewalks are the shanties or vending stalls near the schools that often block the sidewalks and passageways of school kids.
Labella quoted Dr. Rafael Consunji, the Philippine representative to the UNICEF, who said that “while other countries have taken steps to prevent child injuries, in our country we are not doing enough yet to create a safe environment for children.”
The councilor cited the most recent UNICEF study, which showed that the top causes of deaths among children are not ailments, but rather road accidents, drowning, falls, poisoning and burns that can be prevented.
“The school zones of Cebu City would be safer to schoolchildren if the required speed limit on vehicles passing the said areas will be enforced by the traffic authorities as mandated by the Revised Traffic Code of Cebu City,” he said.
Labella said another way to protect child pedestrians from accidents on the streets is to make the sidewalks free from garbage, open manholes, parked vehicles, mendicants, vendors and their stalls, and other obstructions, so that pedestrians will not walk on the vehicle lanes.
By keeping the skywalks tidy, clear of obstructions and safe for users would also encourage pedestrians including children to use the same in crossing the major street-roads, thereby minimizing their exposure to risks even during non-school days, he added.
One of the reasons why pedestrians, including school children, do not use some skywalks is the presence of bystanders who sleep or hang around in these places. — Rene U. Borromeo/WAB (THE FREEMAN)