LTO wants driving tests tweaked

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is working on modifying the tests it administers to those applying for a driver’s license to ensure that they will indeed be qualified to get behind the wheel of their chosen vehicle.

According to Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, LTO chief, they want the questionnaire for applicants to be more specific.

“We want to give emphasis to one’s qualification to drive a certain vehicle. If you will apply for a license, one of the questions will be on what vehicle you will be driving. The exam given to you will then be according to vehicle type,” he said in a recent interview.

Currently, the LTO has eight restriction codes on drivers’ licenses based on a vehicle’s gross weight: RC1 is for motorcycles and motorized tricycles; RC2, for vehicles up to 4,500 kilograms; RC3, for vehicles above 4,500 kg; RC4, for automatic clutch up to 4,500 kg; RC5, for automatic clutch above 4,500 kg; RC6, for articulated vehicles 1,600 kg and below; RC7, for articulated vehicles 1,601 kg to 4,500 kg, and RC8, for articulated vehicles 4,501 kg and above.

The LTO issued more than 5.8 million licenses last year, 2.3 million of which were classified as professional while 1.6 million were nonprofessional. The number of issued licenses was higher by around 250,000 from 2015.

Galvante said they were also working on requiring driving schools nationwide to employ only instructors who have been certified by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to improve the quality of teaching.

Last year, the LTO apprehended 588,676 drivers for violating different traffic rules and regulations. This resulted in the agency collecting a total of P971.1 million in fines, a 5-percent increase from P924 million in 2015.

The most common violation was the nonuse of seat belts followed by driving without proper documents, reckless driving and driving an unregistered vehicle.