MMDA to bus firms: Produce erring drivers caught thru ‘no-contact’

BUS OPERATORS continued to raise concerns about the no-contact policy to be implemented on all motorists starting April 15, but the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) stood firm, saying the measure was necessary to discipline drivers.

More than 30 bus companies sent representatives to a meeting with MMDA officials on Friday, the second to be called by the agency to explain the new system that will rely mainly on the more than 250 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed around the capital.

The high-definition CCTVs can capture a vehicle’s license plate markings, the MMDA earlier said. When a vehicle is caught on camera violating traffic rules, the MMDA will send a summons to the registered owner of the vehicle, or to the operator in the case of public utility buses.

During Friday’s meeting, MMDA Chair Emerson Carlos explained that the driver—not the operator—would be fined if the vehicle was cited for a  “moving violation” like reckless driving, beating the red light, violating the number coding scheme, illegal loading and unloading, encroaching on yellow boxes at intersections, etc.

Need for cooperation

He differentiated this from administrative violations that mainly involve irregularities in the vehicles’ documents.

“The one who has a (moving) violation is the driver, not the operator. We need your cooperation. Once you receive the (violation) ticket, give us the name of the driver and other details so we can send (the ticket) to him instead,” Carlos told the bus company representatives.

Ronnie Rivera, head of the inspectorate and speeding unit of the MMDA, said a bus would be placed “under alarm” if the bus operator who received the summons “did not act on it” within seven days upon receipt.

Once the driver in question receives the summons, he or she still has the opportunity to contest the issuance of the ticket and file a protest in the MMDA traffic adjudication division.

 ‘Incorruptible’

If the violation is upheld, the driver should pay the penalty through Metrobank or directly at the MMDA within seven days from receipt of the final decision. Failure to do so would prompt the MMDA to alert the Land Transportation Office.

The driver would not be able to renew his license until the fine is paid, Carlos said.

Rivera stressed that the CCTV cameras could not be “corrupted” and would get personal contact with MMDA traffic constables out of the equation in the apprehension of traffic violators.

“What is wrong is wrong. If before you could talk your way out of a violation or ‘fix’ it (pay a bribe) through an enforcer, that can’t be done now,” he said.

“What we want is to instill discipline in our drivers. What happens is that we only follow (traffic rules) if someone is watching,” added Neomie Recio, head of the MMDA’s traffic engineering center.