ILOILO – In response to the rise in road crashes across this province, the provincial government is pushing for the integration of road safety education and theoretical driving seminars in public junior and senior high schools for the 2025–2026 school year.
The initiative, currently being studied by the Technical Working Group of the Provincial Task Force on Road Safety (PTFRS), aims to curb reckless driving habits among young motorists — a group increasingly involved in road accidents.
The move comes as data from the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) show that 1,082 vehicular crashes occurred between January 1 and March 24 this year, resulting in 42 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Of these cases, 674 caused property damage, 366 resulted in injuries, and 42 were fatal.
Motorcycles were the most commonly involved vehicles, with reckless driving, unsafe overtaking, and disregard for road rules cited as top violations.
Other contributing factors included overspeeding, drunk driving, mechanical failure, poor road conditions, and lack of proper lighting.
The proposal was discussed during a meeting on May 14 led by the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), and attended by representatives from the IPPO, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region 6 Traffic Safety Unit, the Department of Education (DepEd) Division of Iloilo, and the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO).
According to the PPDO, the lectures and free driving theory sessions will focus on municipalities with high accident rates, based on IPPO data.
The DepEd-Iloilo has expressed full support for the project and is exploring ways to integrate road safety topics into the school curriculum.
In 2024 alone, from January to October, the IPPO recorded 3,011 vehicular accidents in the province. These led to 123 fatalities and 1,226 injuries. Reckless driving was again the leading cause, accounting for 2,230 cases, followed by driver error (683), drunk driving (78), and mechanical issues (20).
Concerned over the increasing number of cases, some involving underage drivers, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. urged residents to follow traffic regulations and ensure minors are kept off the roads.
“You follow the traffic rules. That’s the problem here — we have too many vehicles, too many drivers who don’t know or ignore the rules. The road isn’t going anywhere; we must be the ones to adjust,” Defensor said.
The IPPO, in collaboration with the LTO and Highway Patrol Group (HPG), has also ramped up its enforcement of traffic laws and rolled out awareness drives targeting young drivers.
The proposed school-based intervention is seen as a long-term investment in safer roads by instilling proper road behavior early on — before students even get behind the wheel./PN
