MANILA, Philippines – Commonwealth Avenue and Edsa have been identified as the most traffic accident-prone thoroughfares in Quezon City.

Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit (QCPD-TEU) head Superintendent Norberto Babagay attributed the large number of traffic mishaps – almost 70% of the total reported incidents from January to July – to the volume of vehicles traversing the major thoroughfares.

Babagay explained that more cars pass through the two highways at high speeds, increasing the likelihood of collisions between vehicles.

He discounted the presence of the Metro Manila Development Authority U-turn slots and pink fences as the cause of most vehicular mishaps along Edsa and Commonwealth Avenue.

For the period of January to July, a total of 4,442 road accidents were reported in Quezon City.

The lowest number of traffic accidents was recorded in July, at 480 incidents, or 40 percent lower than mishaps tallied in April (803), when more vehicles were on the streets for family outings in Metro Manila or in the provinces because of the summer vacation.

Based on the report, out of the total road accidents, 77 had fatalities, 296 had casualties while 4,069 resulted in damaged property.

The QCPD-TEU chief explained that human error usually caused the accidents, particularly among inattentive drivers. “These drivers may be using their cellular phones while driving,” he stressed.

Tailgating was another common cause of mishap, as drivers drove too close to other cars, which suddenly stopped or accelerated their speed too much.

Babagay likewise revealed that most of the traffic accidents in the city occur between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. The number of reported mishaps usually peak on the weekends.

The QCPD-TEU chief likewise noted that most drivers who figure in traffic accidents never took lessons in driving school.