DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Transportation and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) warned to confiscate the customized brakeless mini-bicycles assembled out of recycled bike parts that children use to go on group rides along the major thoroughfares here.
CTTMO head Retired Col. Dionisio Abude said during an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) said this type of bicycles can be too risky when used on the roads, which can cause accidents endangering the lives of the children and other motorists.
He said that personnel of the CTTMO had monitored groups of children riding these customized mini-bicycles on some roads in the city, some of whom were seen speeding down along the Diversion Road near the Gap Farm Resort in Talomo District.
“You can see these children with small bicycles that have no brakes along the Diversion Road. They can be too dangerous because they can cause accidents, and can put the motorists in trouble,” he said.
He said the CTTMO was able to confiscate some of these bicycles during a monitoring along the Diversion Road conducted upon a complaint submitted to the local government.
“We did not release the bicycles yet as we want their parents to come over and talk to them,” he said.
He asked them to stop their children from going on dangerous rides to prevent accidents that can endanger their children’s and other people’s lives.
“It may be allowed in places where there are no vehicles passing by, that’s fine. But in our city, it cannot be allowed,” he said.
He added that his personnel have been directed to confiscate these dangerous bicycles if they encounter them on the streets.
Abude said he is asking for a legal opinion if it is possible not to release these bicycles to the owners.
“They will use it again anyway once released back to them. It’s too dangerous if we cannot monitor them,” he said.
Abude said the local government has yet to implement the “Amended Bicycle and Light Mobility Vehicle Ordinance of Davao City,” which was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod last July 19, 2021.
The ordinance requires registration of bicycles by its owners for P20 at the barangays, he said.
“Our barangays will initiate the registration. They will be the ones to update us and give us the master list of how many bicycles have been registered,” he said.
He said the ordinance also requires for registration that bike owners present helmet, headgear, or protective head covering and use of reflectors, headlights, rear lights, or any warning device.
In July 2021, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) inaugurated the 54.74-kilometer Metro Davao Bike Lane Network in this city to provide a “safer road” for cyclists amid the pandemic.
The P145 million project, funded by the Republic Act 11494, also known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act of 2020, was completed last June 30.