PB okays minor accident measure

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial Board passed on Monday an ordinance requiring parties of minor road accidents to immediately remove their vehicles after taking necessary photos and videos of the incident.

Authored by PB Member Glenn Anthony Soco, the ordinance is known as the “Fender Bender Act/Minor Accident Act of 2019”.

The measure is in relation to the October 7, 2019 declaration of a traffic crisis in the Province of Cebu that he also authored.

The declaration stemmed from the traffic congestion of the major thoroughfares that resulted to long hours of daily commute and land travel that have assumed the magnitude and degree of a crisis.

Soco pointed out that one of the factors that contributed to the worsening traffic situation in Metro Cebu is the minor traffic accident that results to gridlock because the vehicles are left on the road until traffic personnel are done with the sketch and initial investigation.

“The general public must not be made to suffer from accidents or incidents on the road which are merely inconsequential. Drivers of motor vehicles plying the roads are reminded to be at all times mindful of driving safely, comply with traffic rules and regulations and observe courtesy,” Soco said.

Soco cited that Japan International Cooperation Agency together with the Department of Transportation, in its The Project on Master Plan Study and Institutional Development on Urban Transport System in Metro Cebu, determined that an average of at least 1,235 road incidents are recorded in Metro Cebu every month.

“Measures must be made to improve and speed up response and how to quickly ease traffic after a road accident while efficiently preserving the facts and circumstances of a possible crime or incident,” Soco further said.

The ordinance provides that drivers may likewise secure videos that may have captured the incident from available dash cameras, closed-circuit television, etc. from third parties or nearby establishments.

Within five minutes from collision of the vehicles, the drivers of the motor vehicles, must immediately pull out their cars from the highway in order to clear the flow of traffic;

If an amicable settlement is reached among the parties involved, all parties are encouraged to voluntarily exchange personal information necessary to enforce the settlement reached.

If an amicable settlement is not reached, the drivers must contact or ask for a traffic responder or investigator to record or settle the issue.

The traffic investigator are encouraged to use the photographs or videos previously taken as basis in recording the facts and circumstances of the case or in settling the parties, including the videos that may have captured the incident from available dash cameras, closed-circuit television, etc. from third parties or nearby establishments.

The ordinance, however, does not apply to traffic incidents involving deaths and physical injuries.

A penalty ranging from P1,000 to P5,000 shall be imposed upon the erring drivers.  FPL (FREEMAN)