THE Land Transportation Office (LTO), under the guidance of Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon, reminded motorists to always keep their motor vehicles in good condition amid the plan to intensify the crackdown on unsafe and unfit to be operated motor vehicles across the country.
LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said the campaign will be undertaken alongside with the intensified operation against unregistered motor vehicles and expired licenses as a significant number of the said violations drastically increased based on the agency’s data.
“We are already finalizing our campaign plan and coordination with concerned agencies in implementing the intensified campaign against motor vehicles with expired registration and those unsafe and unfit motor vehicles on the roads,” said Mendoza.
Asec Mendoza has already issued a memorandum detailing the guidelines of the law enforcement on unregistered or with delinquent registrations and motor vehicles which are unsafe and unfit to drive.
The memorandum was dated June 16 and Asec Mendoza said they plan to start the aggressive operation by August this year.
“This should serve as a notice to motor vehicles to comply with your obligation to keep the registration of your motor vehicles updated otherwise it would need to go to a more stringent process before renewal.” said Asec Mendoza.
He said the road worthiness inspection done in accredited private vehicle motor inspection centers play a key role in informing owners of the safety of their respective vehicles.
Based on the memorandum, motor vehicles with expired registration will be impounded until such time that they are registered after undergoing roadworthiness inspection citing the Joint Administrative Order 2014-01 and the Republic Act 4136 as the basis of the strict penalty that includes a P10,000 fine.
Unsafe and unfit motor vehicles could also be impounded based on the same laws until all the requirements for them to be safe to be driven are complied.
“For enforcement purposes, this includes vehicles with clearly defective parts such as broken windshields, exposed or hanging parts, bald tires, excessive emission, or major visible structural damage,” the memo read.
In asserting the need to be strict against unsafe motor vehicles, Asec Mendoza cited several fatal road crashes incidents in the past due to defective parts and accessories of motor vehicles.
The Marcos administration is actively pushing to reduce road crashes in the country by at least 35% until 2028 under the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan.
Based on the data of the World Health Organization, around 1.3 million people die in road accidents around the world while between 20 million to 50 million are injured, including injuries that result in disability.
In the Philippines, an average of 32 persons die every day as a result of road crashes, according to the UN data.
“Road safety is a matter of life and death. On the part of the LTO, we are actively pursuing preventive measures through interventions to keep all road users safe,” said Asec Mendoza.
“And included in this is our campaign against these kinds of vehicles. So we appeal to delinquent motor vehicles to do the right thing dahil kaligtasan ninyo at ng inyong mga mahal sa buhay ang nakataya dito,” he stressed.
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