More road accidents recorded in early 2014—police

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly 3000 road accidents have been recorded from January to February this year, a record higher than same period last year, Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.

Statistics of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) of the PNP said 217 accidents involving buses and 530 involving trucks has been recorded since January 2014.

Superintendent Elizabeth Velasquez of the HPG said  leading factors in road accidents were “human error and lack of road discipline” such as over-speeding, drunk driving, use of cell phone while driving, bad overtaking, bad turning, mechanical defects and poor maintenance.

Velasquez said another contributing factor is the “lack of knowledge” among drivers.

She expressed worries that their national statistics revealed that bus accidents involve mostly provincial buses.

“Nationwide, mostly are provincial buses,” she said.

She reminded motorists of the importance of checking their vehicles’ “BLOWBAGS” or brake, light, oil, water, battery, air, gasoline, and self.

According to her, the “self” is very important when driving.

“Kung ‘di naman nasa kondisyon ‘yung driver, puyat, medyo galit, doon magkakaroon ng problema sa pagda-drive,” she said.

(If the driver is not in the right condition, lacks sleep or is agitated, his driving becomes problematic.)

Velasquez stressed the importance of safe driving especially this Holy Week where bulk of motorists would be having their vacations.

She said road rage is also prevalent this dry season.

“Tumataas ang road rage dahil mainit ang panahon. Cool lang kayo sa biyahe,” she said.

According to her, HPG would install police booths along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) to assist motorists with their concerns.

For motorists assistance, the public may contact PNP-HPG through 090637445375 or 092057844305.

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