MMDA cracks down on turned off headlights

MANILA, Philippines—A total of 163 motorists in Metro Manila were caught Thursday night driving without their headlights on, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines—A total of 163 motorists in Metro Manila were caught Thursday night driving without their headlights on, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said Friday.

MMDA spokesperson Tina Velasco said traffic officers apprehended 119 motorists from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 44 more were caught later.

Close to half of the violators at 85 were apprehended at Edsa-Ayala intersection, Velasco said.

The MMDA’s Defective Headlight Crackdown kick-started Thursday at 7 p.m., she said, warning violators would be fined.

For those who failed to turn on their headlights, violators would be fined P500 for the first offense, P750 for the second offense and P1,000 for the third offense, said Velasco. They may also face cancellation of license, she said.

Meanwhile, those with defective lights will be fined P150, she said.

She said that driving with headlights turned off at night could be considered as reckless driving.

Republic Act 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, says that vehicles “of more than one meter of projected width, while in use on any public highway shall bear two headlights, one on each side, with white of yellowish light visible from the front.”

The law also says that headlights should be on “not later than one-half hour after sunset and until at least one-half hour before sunrise hour before sunrise and whenever weather conditions require.” With a report from Jamie Marie Elona