Lack of masterplan leads to road chaos, says paper

The absence of a national road safety masterplan and non-coordination among nine concerned government agencies for the proliferation of land traffic accidents that kill and injure countless people across the country every year, private think tank Forensic Law and Policy Strategies Inc. (Forensic Solutions) said yesterday.

The resulting chaos on the country’s roads also costs heavily the economy in terms of loss productive time.

Local government units (LGUs) and nine government agencies involved in ensuring safety in the country’s streets include the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group (PNP-TMG), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DoH), and Department of Education (DepEd).

“There is no overall strategy. There is no purposive collaboration. These agencies neither cooperate nor coordinate with each other in implementing their respective plans and programs on road safety,” according to Forensic Solutions in its ninth policy paper authored by one-time Justice Secretary Alberto Agra with lawyer and former Asian Development Bank (ADB) consultant Mari Jennifer Bruce.

Besides this policy paper on road safety, Forensic Solutions has also released several papers on various concerns such as the need for a regulatory framework for CO2 emission cuts, instituting reforms in the National Food Authority, the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s lifestyle checks to flush out tax cheats, water resource management, the price or Swiss challenge system as a competitive form of public bidding, the possible government buyout of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) System, Congress’ power on the appointment of barangay officials and the taxation of real estate investment trusts.

The Agra-headed think tank said the first step in ensuring road safety and crafting a national road safety program is for the Aquino administration to identify the lead agency that would spearhead these efforts.

Rather than create a new office, this would-be lead agency or committee could come from one of several government agencies involved in road safety, or be composed of representatives from these bodies and the transport groups, academe and other concerned sectors, Agra and Bruce said.

“Road safety is a multi-sectoral issue and all sectors must coordinate policy and implementation to prevent road crash deaths and injuries,” they said.

They said that in crafting a road safety strategy, the lead agency should “incorporate road traffic injury prevention into a broad range of related activities, such as the construction and maintenance of road infrastructure, a requirement for roadworthiness of vehicles, law enforcement, urban planning and development, effective driver education, and access to health and hospital services.”

The paper stated that the proposed lead agency on road safety “should have the authority and responsibility to make decisions, control resources and coordinate road safety activities across multiple sectors of government.”

They also stressed the need for Congress to codify all road traffic laws to avoid overlapping mandates and conflicts in policy and implementation.

It noted that of the almost 40 laws on road safety, only one was intended to identify a national transport strategy.

Agra and Bruce said the codification of all road traffic laws should cover the following 16 points:

• Classifying of roads based on road use, such as higher-speed roads (motorways, expressways and multi-lane divided highways), rural roads, transitional roads, and residential access roads, determining speed limit, design features, night visibility, access restrictions and area-wide road safety management for each classification, incorporating long-term land use, transport planning and road design;

• Prohibiting street children, vendors, and others from soliciting on roads, and clearing all sidewalks of vendors;

• Requiring stronger driver’s licensing control and driver improvement programs;

• Creating networks of segregated or separate pedestrian and bicycle routes connecting to a public transport system;

• Keeping roadsides clear of trees, boulders, commercial advertisements and other obstructions, especially on roads where vehicles travel at high speeds;

• Requiring collapsible lighting columns and signs, mounted on shear bolts or made of yielding material and designed for electrical safety;

• Setting and enforcing alcohol limits;

• Prohibiting the use of mobile telecommunications devices while driving;

• Providing safety measures for vulnerable road users;

• Requiring seat belts and child restraints for all passengers, as applicable;

• Requiring the use of qualified safety helmets on all two-wheelers, motorized or otherwise, reflectors at night, age limits for passengers, and separate drivers education;

• Strengthening government agencies through the grant of powers and authorities, allocation of financial and human resources, and adoption of training programs in specialized fields to effectively implement road safety laws;

• Encouraging international cooperation with and membership in international networks that can provide training and information on experiences of other countries and possible best practices;

• Providing standards for vehicle roadworthiness and crashworthiness;

• Strengthening the assistance to road crash victims and access to health care; and

• Enhancing programs of law enforcement with public information and education campaigns.

Agra and Bruce said the lack of strategy and coordination among the nine agencies involved in road safety is the reason the Philippines does not have a reliable database that it can use to craft an effective national road safety plan. An ADB study attests to this lack of data, which the institution notes has left the Philippines with no choice but to adopt a trial and error method in solving traffic problems.

Of the nine agencies involved in road safety, four of them — DPWH, MMDA, PNP-TMG and DoH — collect traffic data by their own means and methods, with little or no coordination and no effort at all to consolidate the information they have gathered, they said.

“The lack of data, though, should not hinder the government from commencing undertaking a road safety program,” they said. “Integration of the different government databases is necessary to minimize, if not eliminate, underreporting of accidents and provide a more comprehensive understanding of traffic accidents.”

Agra and Bruce pointed out that besides identifying the lead agency, the two other steps in coming up with a road safety masterplan are consolidating, processing and analyzing traffic accident data; and identifying problems and solutions.

They noted that among the key factors to be considered in mapping a national road safety program is driver error, which is the leading cause of traffic accidents in the country.

Driver error often results from ineptness or deliberate recklessness by the person concerned and inadequate traffic signals, road signs and devices.

Effective public education, strict traffic enforcement, a more stringent driver’s licensing control and driver improvement program, the installation of appropriate traffic control devices at hazardous locations and improved and uniform warning traffic signs, and the application of marking devices on all roads, will help curb road accidents due to driver error, Agra and Bruce said.

Banning old, dilapidated vehicles from the streets; adopting and strictly enforcing safety standards; implementing protocols to swiftly remove stalled vehicles and road obstructions; requiring authorities to quickly respond to traffic accidents; introducing workplace health and safety regulations, such as keeping street children and vendors off the roads; regulating commercial advertisements along roads; and segregating traffic into slow- and fast-moving lanes are among the other factors that they have identified in ensuring road safety.

Agra and Bruce said the lead agency on road safety should consider the inputs and concerns of all road users — motorists and pedestrians alike — in crafting a comprehensive road safety program. Thus, it should subject its road safety strategy — which should include medium- and long-term plans — to public deliberations before it can be finalized.