MMDA plans speed radar guns on motorbikes

MANILA, Philippines—Angered by the death of a prominent journalist in a road collision, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Sunday said it was planning to equip its motorcycle units with radar speed guns to go after speeding motorists, particularly passenger bus drivers.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino also announced he would meet with the agency’s task force overseeing the implementation of traffic rules along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, where the accident that killed journalist Chit Estella occurred on Friday night.

“We will also introduce the use of speed radars on board our motorcycle units,” Tolentino said in a radio interview. “These will identify violators and once they are pulled over, we can have the violation tickets printed and issued to drivers.”

The driver of the Universal Bus Line unit that rammed the taxicab carrying Estella has been identified and criminal charges will be filed against him on Monday in the Quezon City prosecutor’s office, an official said.

Senior Supt. Arnold Santiago, Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Group head, identified the driver as Daniel Espinosa, 39, a native of Davao del Sur.

Santiago denied reports that Espinosa had been arrested. He said the police were also still looking for the driver of a second vehicle that hit Estella’s cab.

The officer on case, SP03 Nelson Apostol, said that various teams had been dispatched to locate the drivers and the bus conductor of the bus, who also fled the scene.

Apostol added they would study the video footages taken on Commonwealth Avenue at the time of the accident.

The cab’s driver survived with minor injuries.

The MMDA has initially armed traffic enforcers with radar guns to gauge the speed of vehicles passing on Commonwealth Avenue. It has enforced a 60-kilometer-per-hour speed limit on the thoroughfare starting in January.

The number of road mishaps on Commonwealth Avenue has earned for it the label “killer highway.”