The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has summoned 24 registered owners of trucks that were caught with worn out tires during the agency’s intensified operations across the country following several cases of fatal road accidents.
LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II said the 24 owners of unsafe trucks were already issued a Show Cause Order (SCO) and were asked to explain why they should not be penalized for ignoring road safety measures.
“We observed that there has been an utter disregard to the road safety by some erring truck owners. In our aggressive campaign, some of the common violations are worn-out tires which are really dangerous not only to the truck drivers but also to other road users,” said Mendoza.
He was referring to the series of operations conducted since the Katipunan Flyover accident wherein a truck killed four people and injured more than 20 others after it rammed several motor vehicles.
“We will not allow these erring truck owners to disregard the traffic rules and regulations,” he added.
In the SCO signed by LTO-Law Enforcement Service director Eduardo de Guzman, all the registered owners of apprehended trucks were instructed to bring the trucks to the nearest LTO offices for road worthiness inspection.
The registered owners were also tasked to submit a written and notarized explanation as to why they should not be charged for violating the Republic Act 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code for having worn-out tires.
Mendoza said all the trucks that were issued with SCO were placed under alarm pending the compliance of the order for motor vehicle inspection.
“We would like to warn all truck drivers and operators to follow the law because what is at stake here is the life and limbs of all road users. They have to comply, otherwise, they will be in serious trouble when we apprehend them,” said Mendoza.
The aggressive campaign against erring trucks, according to Mendoza, is part of the Stop Road Crash advocacy recently launched by the LTO.