MMDA apprehends 328 motorists for speeding on QC ‘killer highway’

In less than a week, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has accosted more than 300 motorists for violating the 60-kilometer-per-hour speed limit being enforced in other areas on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

During the agency’s radio program yesterday, MMDA traffic discipline office head Yves Gonzalez said that since Tuesday, 328 speedsters have been apprehended on the so-called “killer highway.”

“But the number of apprehensions have been going down each day… which is good because we’re not after apprehensions but compliance,” Gonzalez added.

The 60-kph speed limit originally covered only the stretch of the avenue from Philcoa to Batasan. Last week, it was extended by 2.3 kilometers, up to Doña Carmen Avenue.

The traffic scheme was implemented in certain portions of the 12.4-km road after veteran journalist Lourdes “Chit” Estella Simbulan was killed in a vehicular accident in 2011.

Commonwealth Avenue earned the monicker of “killer highway” due to the numerous accidents which have occurred on the road, resulting in deaths or injuries, over the years.

In a previous statement, MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said he had been receiving reports that drag races still take place on Commonwealth Avenue at nighttime.

“There are portions on Commonwealth Avenue that are 18 lanes wide so motorists tend to speed up,” he noted.

Tolentino added that the agency had bought additional speed guns in preparation for the expansion of the speed limit’s coverage. The speed guns can video-capture vehicles and estimate their speed.

According to him, the MMDA was studying plans to to install more closed-circuit television cameras on the highway.

Based on data taken from the agency’s website, as of Feb. 26, it had apprehended 24,164 speedsters on Commonwealth Avenue alone.