Road mishap figures soar

The number of vehicular accidents this December is expected to increase by 100 percent from last month because of the Christmas rush, an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

Director Angelito Vergel de Dios of the MMDA-Traffic Operations Center (TOC) said he expects the number of vehicular accidents to reach 1,500 cases, twice as many as the incidents in November.

"A lot of people are going out to attend Christmas parties and do their shopping," he said. This, he said, means more vehicles on the road and increased people traffic.

MMDA records revealed that in October, there were 650 incidents while in November there were 762 cases. Vergel de Dios said the peak in incidents usually lasts until early January.

From 6 a.m. of Dec. 19 up to 6 a.m. of the following day, there were 32 vehicular accidents, a significant increase from the average of 15 cases that were recorded during the other months. About seven of the vehicular accidents were amicably settled.

There was only one reported injury — a pedestrian identified as Ronald Jairo who was hit by a Tamaraw FX along C5 Road and Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City at around 9:58 a.m. last Friday.

The Metrobase attributed the rise in the number of accidents to the "carelessness" of some motorists who are in a rush to finish their Christmas shopping. About 15 of these incidents occurred on EDSA.

There were also 11 reported stalled vehicles, or those that encountered engine trouble or flat tires while on the road.

However, MMDA Metrobase reported that despite the number of accidents, they were able to remove the vehicles obstructing the flow of traffic within 15 minutes.

"Nagagalit kasi si Chairman Bayani Fernando kapag hindi tinanggal kaagad ang mga vehicles na nakasagabal sa kalsada," Vergel de Dios said.

Since road obstructions should be cleared quickly, the MMDA preserves the scene of the accident using lumber chalk to mark the position of involved vehicles.

Previously, motorists would be burdened with even heavier traffic because it would take about an hour for vehicles involved in an accident to be removed. Time is usually wasted in waiting for the arrival of a traffic officer to conduct an investigation.