The House Committee on Transportation has formed a technical working group that will consolidate two measures which seek to establish fair investigation and accountability for road crashes.

The House panel, chaired by Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, gave in to the motion of Quezon City 1st District Rep. Anthony Peter “Onyx” Crisologo calling for the creation of a TWG to consolidate House Bill No. 899 and House Bill No. 1987 filed by Batangas 5th District Rep. Mario Vittorio Mariño and Iligan City lone District Rep. Frederick Siao.

Crisologo’s motion was adopted during the House panel’s recent virtual deliberations on the two measures.

“Road crashes are one of the leading causes of death in the country. It is for this reason that several laws on road safety have been enacted not only to improve road user behavior, but also hold erring drivers accountable. However, some groups have been questioning these measures citing bias, particularly on the application and implementation of existing road safety laws,” Mariño said in his sponsorship speech.

He cited the case of Teddy Gotis who was driving his truck when a motorcycle driven by a minor, with no helmet and intoxicated, rammed into his truck.

“The minor, with his head crushed, died instantly while Mang Teddy was arrested for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. Although Mr. Gotis was eventually released, he was presumed at fault and immediately arrested. Such fault, however, has no presumption in law or existing rules. It has merely been a practice of law enforcers to presume the culpability of a driver of a bigger vehicle,” he said.

The chairperson of the House Committee on Reorganization said the case of Gotis cited the need to revisit existing laws, specifically on reckless imprudence.

“In practice, police officers arrest, detain, and charge drivers who only appear to be at fault but are not factually at fault. Clearly, the problem does not only lie on the law but also on the application of the law. Thus, there is a needed legislation to provide proper evaluation and investigation by police authorities of the circumstances and evidence relative to road crashes in order to ensure that erring drivers/individuals—not innocent drivers—are held accountable,” Mariño said.

Under Mariño’s HB No. 899, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Highway Patrol Group (HPG) shall be the lead agency in the investigation of major road crashes.

For minor road crashes, the Traffic Investigation Unit of the concerned local government shall have primary control over the scene and the investigation of the accident.

HB 899 provides that culpability shall be presumed in the following instances:

• When the driver is intoxicated or driving under the influence of illegal drugs;
• When the driver has no license or has an expired license;
• When there is failure to present the Official Receipt or Certificate of Registration (OR/CR) when asked by the first responder;
• When there is a commission of other serious traffic violations;
• When the driver flees the scene of the crime
• When there is no evidence of franchise or Certificate of Public Convenience presented during apprehension;
• When the person injured was not crossing at a pedestrian lane or road intersection;
• When the person injured crosses the street or highway instead of using the designated pedestrian crossing or nearby footbridge;
• When the person injured is a motorcycle/bicycle/tricycle nor wearing road safety devices travelling on a national highway and not driving in the designated or rightmost lane of the roadway in accordance with international standards;
• When the driver or person injured did not have the right of way at the exact time of the accident; and
• Other analogous circumstances.

For his part, Siao said his proposed Philippine Responsible Driving and Accountability Act aims to update the country’s road safety laws, as well as laws on criminal, civil, and administrative culpability and liability of drivers involved in traffic violations and road safety incidents.

“This bill defines different types of unsafe driver behavior: dangerous driving; reckless driving, suicidal driving, terroristic driving, careless driving, impaired driving, and irresponsible custody of vehicles,” he said.

Under Siao’s HB 1987, the driver is presumed to be not initially culpable or not totally at fault for the incident under investigation when:

• The victim is intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs or prescription medication;
• The victim was not crossing the street at a pedestrian lane or road intersection;
• The victim crossed the street or highway instead of using a nearby pedestrian footbridge;
• The victim is a bicycle rider not wearing safety devices or wearing dark clothing;
• The victim is a driver of a motorcycle, bicycle, or tricycle traveling on a national highway under the minimum speed limit and not on the rightmost lane of the roadway;
• The victim is a driver, who, at the exact time of the incident, did not have the right of way on the road;
• The driver did not flee from the scene of the road safety incident;
• The driver was suffering, at the time of the incident, a medical emergency such as heart attack, stroke, asthma attack, or diabetes shock; and
• The driver of other vehicle has non-functional or lacking in headlights, tail lights, and other warning devices.