The Land Transportation Office (LTO) urged motorists on Black Friday, April 18, to observe road courtesy and discipline this Holy Week to avoid being summoned due to violations that could spoil their vacation or, worse, accidents that may result in injuries or deaths.
LTO Chief Asst. Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II said the office is preparing to issue more show cause orders (SCOs) to motorists who were caught misbehaving on viral social media posts or recorded on incident reports since Holy Wednesday when the bulk of travelers hit the road for the Holy Week break.
“Walang mawawala sa pagpapakumbaba at pagiging disiplinado sa kalsada. In fact, kasama ang mga ito sa focus ng ating Lenten reflections. Alalahanin natin na mas marami pang idudulot na problema ang pagiging kamote at basagulero sa kalsada (You will lose nothing in being humble and disciplined on the road. In fact, that is included in the focus of our Lenten reflections. Let us remember that being reckless and belligerent on the road will result to more problems),” he said.
The LTO has issued several SCOs to erring drivers, most of them based on viral videos reported to them on social media.
Among them include the drivers involved in a deadly road rage in Antipolo City on March 30; a motovlogger who performed a “Superman” stunt that killed a fellow rider on Marilaque Road in Tanay, Rizal on Jan. 28; the driver of a jeepney involved in a road accident that killed two and injured 16 passengers along Commonwealth on April 13; and the most recent involved two passenger bus drivers where one figured in a road accident on NLEX on April 14 while the other was caught in a viral video overspeeding in La Union on April 16.
The LTO said it deployed 1,700 enforcers on the road nationwide for the Holy Week break. They were instructed to run after reckless drivers. The office also has active “cyber patrollers” who monitor traffic accidents on social media so that errant drivers would be penalized.
“Let this serve both as a reminder to all motorists on their way back to work and from vacation to be careful and be mindful of others, or face the consequence of reckless action on the road,” Mendoza said.