BAGUIO CITY - Unlike other lowland areas, the Cordillera office of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) will continuously allow the use of fog lights in the different parts of the region because of poor visibility due to the prevalence of fog, especially in mountainous areas. Lawyer Federico J. Mandapat, Jr., DoTC-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) regional director, said fog lights may be used by motor vehicle owners in the region to avoid accidents in mountainous roads that are marked by curves. Mandapat said mountainous areas where foggy conditions are experienced are exemptions to the rule, provided that the use of the fog lights will be limited only to the said areas and not in lowland communities. However, he explained that vehicle owners in the region must strictly adhere to current government standards being imposed so that they will qualify to be exempted from the use of fog lights in their vehicles.
Under the current standards imposed by the agency, fog lights installed in vehicles must be below 100 watts so that other motorists will not be blinded by the light coming from the vehicle on the opposite lane. More importantly, Mandapat reminded vehicle owners not to use fog lights during the day since it may cause more harm to the motoring public than prevent accidents. When fog lights are used in lowland areas of the region where foggy condition does not exist, the DoTC-CAR official asserted that vehicle owners should specify that the fog lights they have in their cars are for display and aesthetic purposes only. He admitted that fog lights are important in aiding drivers to maneuver their vehicles in foggy areas in mountain highways, especially during the rainy season when road mishaps usually increase in number.
Unfortunately, he said, concerned government agencies are lenient in the implementation of the said regulation for humanitarian and safety reasons. Mandapat reminded vehicle owners to temporarily disconnect the fog lights installed in their vehicles whenever they are traversing lowland roads so that those inspecting their vehicles will be convinced that they will not use the fog lights to their advantage in plying major roads.
In a related development, Mandapat reported its deputized agents and law enforcers have already confiscated a total of 15 sirens ("wang-wang") that were illegally installed in private vehicles in compliance to the directive of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino for all vehicle owners to stop using "wang-wangs" in their vehicles. The DoTC-CAR will be deploying additional personnel among the city's major roads to intensify the campaign against the illegal use of sirens and prevent its owners from unjustly using the same for their personal needs just to be able to evade being caught in traffic congestions in populated areas
