LTO-7 holds road safety advocacy forum for youth, motorcycle dealers

Director Victor Caindec of the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) welcomes participants to the Road Safety Advocacy Forum held at the LTO-7 office located along Natalio Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City. /Irene R. Sino Cruz

CEBU CITY, Philippines- Wanting to reduce the occurrence of road accidents especially those involving motorcycles, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Central Visayas held a road safety advocacy forum for youth sector and motorcycle dealers earlier today, May 15.

LTO-7 Regional Director Victor Caindec explained that they wanted to especially promote road safety habits on the road among the youth since most of the road accidents recorded in the region involve them.

Caindec quoted an organization called Youth for Road Safety as having said that “more young people aged 15 to 29 die from road crashes than from HIV, AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis or homicide globally.”

“Every 28 seconds, one person will die from a road crash. That is the reality. And that’s happening globally,” he said.

According to Caindec, a lot can be done to address this situation.

“It starts with being aware that there’s a problem and that problem can actually have a solution,” he pointed out.

This problem has led LTO to conduct a road safety advocacy forum held simultaneously nationwide on Wednesday, May 15. The Central Visayas forum was held at the LTO-7 office located along Natalio Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City.

Those who came to the forum included Police Capt. Saturnino Sedigo Jr., Highway Patrol Group Cebu City team leader; Peter Ryan Go, president of Cebu Road Heroes; engineer Lynn Madrona, consultant on transport and traffic management of Mega Cebu; Darren Ray Diaz of the United Motorcycle Club; and Vicente Gador Jr., LTO legal counsel.

Sedigo cited the need for motorists to follow traffic rules and regulations to prevent the occurrence of road accidents. He also called on motorcycle dealers to sell motorcycle units only to those who have been issued a driver’s license.

Go discussed road safety awareness for the youth while Diaz focused on simple motorcycle and motor vehicle riding safety.

Gador gave basic details on land transportation laws, rules and regulations as well as an introduction to driver’s licensing system.

On the other hand, Madrona explained the meaning of various basic traffic signs and the signals for road safety.

Based on the data of road traffic deaths, 53 percent of road accidents involved motorcycle riders, 19 percent involved pedestrians; 14 percent were of 4-wheeled vehicle drivers; 11 percent of 4-wheeled vehicle passengers; and two percent involved cyclists.

Caindec said that they will also be holding similar forums in other areas in the region./dcb