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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Thursday, March 9, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Weeks from now, traffic enforcers will crack down on motorcycle riders not wearing helmets and jaywalkers.
The Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) is giving the public almost a month to get well acquainted with local laws prohibiting these practices before running after violators, said Superintendent Luisito Acebuhe.
This will spare traffic enforcers from blame once they strictly enforce City Ordinance (CO) Nos. 466 and 338, the BTAO head said.
CO No. 466 series of 2008, as amended by CO No. 535, is also called the Motorcycle Safety Helmet Ordinance. It requires all motorcycle riders to wear protective helmets.
On the other hand, CO No. 338, or the Comprehensive Traffic Ordinance, prohibits jaywalking and regulates public utility jeepney routes and parking areas.
The BTAO enforcers will run after violators of CO No. 466 starting March 27 and jaywalkers starting April 3.
At 3 p.m. on March 27, the BTAO, in coordination with the Bacolod City Police Office and the Land Transportation Office (LTO), will put up checkpoints across the city, Acebuche said.
Motorcycle riders caught not wearing helmets will be fined P300.
If they do not have with them their OR/CR (official receipt/certificate of registration), their motorcycles will be impounded, said Acebuche.
A stiffer penalty awaits those who will get caught by LTO personnel, he said.
A “no OR/CR, no travel” policy is in effect across the country, an LTO personnel told the motoring magazine Top Gear Philippines.
An article on the magazine’s website quoted an LTO source saying the law prohibits unregistered vehicles from public roads, and both the driver and the dealer will be fined for a violation.
Meanwhile, anyone caught jaywalking in Bacolod will be penalized with:
* P100 fine or community service on first offense
* P200 and community service on second offense
* P300 or community service/imprisonment on third offense and succeeding offenses
A proposed ordinance pushes to raise the base fine for jaywalking to P500.
The measure was approved on first reading in January and remains pending with the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Tarpaulins containing information on the planned strict enforcement of the traffic ordinances will be put up along streets, Acebuche said.
Most of the victims in the 272 crash injuries that the BTAO recorded in February were motorcycle riders without helmets, he revealed.
Jaywalkers, on the other hand, contribute to traffic congestion, Acebuche said./PN
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