Treating vehicles the same way

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FIRST, there was the proliferation of motorcycles in our city streets and even in the provinces. This occurred just before the COVID-19 pandemic when interest rates were almost zero and there was a surfeit of cheap loans for motorcycles. This coincided with the reality that mobility in Metro Manila has become really difficult and for some employees and wage-earners, motorcycles provide a quick fix.

The lay of the land in cities already saddled with congestion and other traffic problems was transformed into an even messier mess with motorcycle riders, delivery men, and transport network drivers using the roads with nary a care about traffic rules and the rights and safety of other motorists. In the difficult contest for road space, being small in size is an advantage, and riders using these two-wheel vehicles have found out how to use this advantage to the hilt. Traffic enforcers and policemen do not care much about these violations, maybe because they, too, are mostly motorcycle riders.

‘We commend the authorities for stopping the unregulated operation of e-trikes that impinge on the road rights of other motorists.’

Completing the whole messy traffic picture are hundreds of e-trikes joining the regular tricycles, e-bikes, kuligligs and similar transport contraptions. Alarmed by reports of deaths and injuries in national highways involving trucks and tricycles, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos instructed local government units to ban or regulate the operation of tricycles and e-trikes on national roads.

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This was followed by an announcement of the Metro Manila Council (MMC) of a resolution regulating the use of electric motor vehicles, especially along major thoroughfare including EDSA, Araneta Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue, Osmeña Highway, Shaw Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue, Magsaysay Boulevard, Mindanao Avenue, and Marcos Highway.

Violators will be apprehended and fined P2,500. Their units will also be impounded if they fail to present a valid driver’s license.

As this developed, members of a technical working group composed of the MMDA, Department of Transportation, Land Transportation Office (LTO), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board all agree that strict regulations should be imposed on electric vehicles which are sold without LTO registration and operated by riders without driver’s licenses and helmets. It would seem that these road users are exempted from rigid rules imposed on the rest of us.

Recognizing the severity of problems unregistered e-trikes create for other road users, the LTO is proposing the registration of electric bicycles and tricycles used on roads maintained by the government, and their drivers must be licensed. to their drivers. LTO head Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II presented the proposal during a consultation meeting with representatives from transport organizations and government agencies.

With so many agencies handling traffic and land transportation matters, there is lack of consistency in government policies, with each agency doing its work without regard to the duties and responsibilities of other government offices.  Director Victor Nuñez of the MMDA cited some flaws, among them an LTO circular in 2021 outlining guidelines on the regulation of e-bikes but without corresponding penalties for violations.

We commend the authorities for stopping the unregulated operation of e-trikes that impinge on the road rights of other motorists. Regulators should treat all vehicles the same way, without favoring certain sectors.

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