y Marjorie Gorospe
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA— Makati City recently revised its traffic code to impose stiffer penalties and higher fines for drunk driving within the business district.
Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay signed City Ordinance No. 2011-010, which was enacted by the city council to improve the road safety. Drunk driving is cited as the most common cause of road accidents in the city.
There were 781 road accidents in Makati recorded from January to July this year, according to data from the Makati Command Control and Communications Center (C3). In 2010, there were a total of 1,434 road accidents recorded in Makati.
“This new ordinance aims to curtail the disregard for traffic rules, which is largely to blame for vehicular accidents that occur in our city,” said Binay in an advisory.
According to Binay, an average of 800, 000 vehicles pass through the city roads daily.
In addition to the P2,500 fine and/or imprisonment for the first offense, the culprit's vehicle will also be impounded. Binay said that they would also recommend suspension or revocation of the drunk driver’s license to the Land Transportation Organization (LTO).
At the national level, the Anti-Drunk Driving Bill (House Bill No. 4251), co-authored by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, reached its final reading in Congress earlier this year.
