House panel OKs bill banning drag racing on public roads

MANILA, Philippines — The House panel on transportation approved on Wednesday a bill seeking to ban drag racing on public roads, to include public utility vehicles that race each other just to get passengers first.

The House committee approved House Bill No. 3391 which also seeks to provide penalties for those who will conduct drag racing on public roads.

Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo, who introduced the measure, said many lives have been “snuffed out” due to drag racing in public roads, which she claimed are occurring at an “alarming rate.

She cited an incident in 2017 where two buses racing each other in Bohol hurt seven people.

“Drag racing in public roads does not have a place in our society. A stringent measure should be enforced against this perilous activity,” Castelo said.

Under the bill, drag racing that involves two or more private vehicles driven side by side at accelerating speeds to outdo each other is prohibited.

Also prohibited is drag racing involving public utility vehicles randomly overtaking each other just to get passengers first or just to outdistance each other.

Those found violating the provisions of the proposed measure will be fined not less than P300,000 but not more than P500,000 and or land in jail for a  year.

/MUF