The Department of Health (DOH) is calling for stricter implementation of laws involving road safety, while a road safety advocacy group called for a lower speed limit on urban roads.
According to the DOH, road accidents are the fifth leading cause of death in the country, and the top cause of death for children to 29 years of age.
“Tumaas pa from 2022 to 2023 ang road deaths so ako, to me, baka lax ‘yung ating implementation,” DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a report by Bernadette Reyes on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.
“Isa ‘yun sa mga dapat gawin, enforcement. May batas na. The laws are there, but enforcing of the law,” he added.
(Road deaths increased further from 2022 to 2023 so to me, maybe the implementation is lax… That is one of the things that has to be done, enforcement. There are already laws. The laws are there, but enforcing the law.)
For its part, the Move as One Coalition is calling for the government to implement a 30-kilometer-per-hour speed limit in urban areas, which it says could lessen fatalities.
“Thirty kilometers per hour speed limit in urban roads is the number one recommendation. Bakit? Ni-research nila [They researched it] and they found it will actually reduce road fatalities by about 40%. Ang laking bagay nito [This is a big thing],” co-convenor Robert Siy said in the same report.
GMA Integrated News is trying to reach the MMDA for comment. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News
