CEBU, Philippines — A total of 74,371 traffic-related citations have been issued in Cebu City to violators for the first half of 2024 with majority due to the simple disregard for traffic signs.
Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) Traffic Education section acting head, Corazon “Sonnie” Yrog-irog, said of the more than 74,000 violations, 22,492 were issued to motorists who disregarded the “No Stopping Anytime” sign.
Another 21,804 disregarded the “No Left Turn” sign; and another 10,755 violated the “No Parking Anytime in Clamping Zone” sign.
Aside from traffic signs, citation tickets were also issued to motorists who disregarded road markings, with 12,358 citation tickets issued to motorists who disregarded the solid yellow lane.
Some 6,962 traffic citation tickets, on the other hand, were issued to motorists who were caught parking on sidewalks.
Majority of those issued with citation tickets were public utility vehicles (PUVs) drivers, and motorcycle owners.
According to CCTO, PUVs usually caught disregarding traffic signs were picking up passengers.
With this, CCTO assistant operations head Jounald Bautista reminded motorists that traffic signs, such as the “No Stopping Anytime” signage, are placed along specific areas for a reason.
“Kung naa gane’y gibutang nga traffic sign nga ‘No Stopping Anytime’ diha, meaning danger zone na siya,” said Bautista through the City’s Sugboanon channel, emphasizing that the signage is placed along busy streets to avoid bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Motorists have also been urged to read the traffic signs carefully to determine what vehicles are allowed on a particular road, as well as what time they are allowed to enter, and where they are allowed to stop and park.
Bautista also advised motorists to always follow traffic signs even if there are no enforcers present, while motorcycle drivers are expected to avoid parking and driving along sidewalks as they are intended for pedestrians.
“In general, ang sidewalk wala na naningahanglan og signboard. Dili gyud na siya pwede (parkingan). Bisan og inyo pana ipadaplin, kung sidewalk gane na siya, dili gyud na pwede,” Manuel Tagaan, CCTO Special Task Action section head added.
CCTO also reminded those issued with citation tickets to settle their violations within three days upon issuance or face charges.