Lawmaker wants 9-hour driving limit for PUV drivers

MANILA, Philippines - A police officer-turned congressman is proposing a nine-hour driving limit daily for drivers of buses, trucks, jeepneys, taxis and other public utility vehicles (PUVs).

“Driver fatigue is among the leading causes of fatal road accidents in the country,” Rep. Samuel Pagdilao Jr. of party-list group Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support said.

Pagdilao is the author of Bill 5271 titled, “An Act providing daily driving limits for trucks, buses and other public utility vehicles.”

The bill covers all vehicles covered by certificates of public conveyance issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Pagdilao noted that many drivers of passenger buses are made to work for 24 hours straight before taking off and then working again for 24 hours.

He said such a work schedule is very tiring for PUV drivers.

The lawmaker cited a recent report that a passenger bus plowed into a police car parked along EDSA in Balintawak, Quezon City, leaving four policemen injured.

The bus driver claimed that he fell asleep because he was exhausted for driving for 24 hours when the accident happened.

“In other countries, daily driving hours are specifically limited as a safety measure against fatigue-related accident. In the United States, the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration mandates a maximum daily driving limit of 10 to 11 hours. In Europe, drivers observe a daily driving limit of nine to 10 hours only,” Pagdilao said.

Under the bill, driving limit shall be nine hours for each 24-hour period. However, the daily driving time may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice during a week.

It further provides that after driving for a continuous period of four-and-half hours, a PUV driver should take an uninterrupted rest of not more than 30 minutes.

The rest period would not be included in the computation of the daily driving limit.

A PUV driver would be required to keep a daily record of his duty status indicating his name, PUV’s license plate, name of operator, total kilometers driven, total driving hours and his signature.

The proposed measure seeks a penalty of one month to six months imprisonment or a fine of P100,000, or both for a driver who fails to observe the daily work limit and mandatory rest period, fails to keep a record of his duty or makes false claims about his work.

The penalties for a PUV operator who forces his driver to work in excess of the daily limit would be a prison term of six months to one year or a fine of P200,000, or both at the discretion of the court.

There have been proposals that PUV operators be required to give their drivers monthly salaries so they would not be racing against each other on the road and would not be overworked.