MMDA eyes expanding reporting system for road crashes

A van that collided with a bus on the Edsa-Reliance intersection caused heavy traffic in 2016. —File photo from Radyo Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will expand its reporting system for road crash incidents to provide more complete data for study, MMDA Chair Don Artes announced on Wednesday.

The Metro Manila Accident Reporting and Analysis System (MMARAS) will then include the reason for the road crash incident — including causes such as poor road condition or a defective stoplight, Artes said.

Conceding that MMDA would need to bolster its incident reporting capacities, Artes made the remarks at a dialogue with transport sector leaders to discuss road safety at their headquarters in Pasig City on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

READ: MMDA aims to reduce road crash fatalities by 35% by 2028

“In our records, especially if it’s a self-accident and there’s an immediate settlement, we no longer record what the real reason behind the incident,” Artes said in Filipino.

“There’s really a need for such an improvement in our reporting and analysis system so that the reasons behind the incidents would be reflected so that there can be a right analysis to prevent them,” he added.

Artes said the MMDA would tap the University of the Philippines (UP) for assistance on the matter.

“We have a tie-up with UP who will provide us with the improved MMARAS that it would let us use for free. We will seek the support of the various sectors,” he said.

READ: MMDA logs 17.3% increase in motorcycle-related crashes in 2023

On Wednesday, the MMDA convened representatives of trucking associations and ride-hailing services as well as concerned government agencies in a dialogue about road safety, citing a string of recent road crash incidents during the onset of the Christmas season.

Before the dialogue, Artes said that, while there were fewer road crashes reported in 2024, more incidents were fatal.

Citing MMDA data, he said there were 62,723 road crash incidents with 332 fatalities so far in 2024, as of Nov. 30. Meanwhile, there were 85,954 incidents with 352 fatalities in the entirety of 2023.

This means there was roughly one fatality for every 189 road crash incidents in 2024, compared to one fatality for every 244 incidents in 2023.