Measure filed to increase speed limits

North Luzon Expressway. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Tarlac Rep. Enrique Cojuangco has filed a bill raising the speed limit on expressways from 100 to 130 kilometers per hour (kph) for cars and motorcycles, and 110 kph for buses and trucks.

Cojuangco filed House Bill No. 3377 establishing a standard speed limit for all major tollways, specifically the North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Metro Manila Skyway, Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, Bataan Provincial Expressway and Manila Cavite Expressway.

“The present law does not include in its classifications the classes of controlled-access freeways or highways and it does not specify the allowable speed limit for such class of roads,” Cojuangco noted.

“The bill seeks to update the rules and regulations on road safety and traffic management by including freeways or the controlled-access highways in the classification of roads and set a uniform speed,” Cojuangco said.

For expressways or highways designed exclusively for high-speed traffic, the recommended speed limit is 130 kph for cars and motorcycles and 110 kph for buses and trucks.

The current speed limit on local expressways is 100 kph.

Under Republic Act No. 4136, or the Land Transportation Code, the speed limits were set only for four major types of road, excluding expressways.

For open country roads with no blind corners and not closely bordered by habitation, the speed limit is set at 80 kph for cars and motorcycles and 50 kph for buses and trucks.

For boulevards clear of traffic with no blind corners, the speed limit is set at 40 kph for cars and motorcycles and 30 kph for trucks and buses. This speed limit applies to the busiest thoroughfare, Edsa, or Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.

For city and municipal streets with light traffic and not designated as “through streets,” the speed limit is 30 kph for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses.

For crowded streets, approaching intersections at “blind corners,” passing school zones and passing idle vehicles, the speed limit is 20 kph for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses.

In February, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority enforced a 60-kph limit on the 18-lane Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, which has earned the tag “killer highway,” to address the rising number of accidents.—Gil Cabacungan