Human error caused 57% of accidents

BAGUIO CITY – At least 57 percent of the over 20,000 vehicular accidents that occurred nationwide last year is due to human error, thus, the need for a more aggressive driver and road safety education, Assistant Secretary Arturo C. Lomibao of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said here Saturday morning.

The 2009 figures for vehicular accidents is a 25 percent increase compared to the over 16,000 vehicular accidents recorded by various law enforcement agencies in 2008.

Out of the said percentage of accidents caused by human error, 45.8 percent of the vehicular accidents are due to bad turning, bad driving, and over speeding, 3.7 percent is due to drank driving, 2.4 percent is caused by drivers using cellular phones, and 5.3 percent are hit-and-run incidents
From over 50 percent motorcycle accidents recorded in 2008, Lomibao disclosed that motorcycle accidents last year was down to only 18.6 percent, while accidents caused by small and large vehicles was recorded at 40.6 percent.

Because of the increasing number of accidents due to human error, the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief ordered all LTO offices nationwide to conduct an aggressive campaign to educate drivers on road safety rules and regulations as well as impose the necessary regulations to discipline erring drivers.

At the same time, Lomibao directed law enforcement agencies to intensify the implementation of traffic rules and regulations so that erring drivers will be compelled to comply with prevailing rules and regulations to help improve the condition of traffic in urban centers.

Based on a result of a random drug testing on drivers in Cebu recently, Lomibao revealed that five drivers turned out positive of using drugs with four of them using shabu while was one was traced using marijuana. –DEXTER A. SEE, Manila Bulletin