The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) has started forwarding unsettled traffic violation cases to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) as it reiterated its warning to motorists who continue to ignore their traffic citation tickets that they could not run away from their offenses.
Citom operations chief Joy Tumulak said motorists with pending traffic violation cases will be unable to renew their driving licenses while those who own vehicles would not be able to renew their unit’s registration.
“Once the names of these violators as well as their vehicles’ plate numbers are entered into the alarm database of LTO, which is nationwide, they can’t renew their licenses and registration,” explained Citom operations chief Joy Tumulak.
Tumulak said incorrigible violators will get a surprise “birthday gift” when they renew their licenses which usually expires on their birth dates.
As early as now, Tumulak advised violators who have been issued Traffic Citation Tickets (TCTs) to settle their fines.
Worsening traffic
Citom is hoping that this move will minimize traffic violations in the city which are a major cause of the worsening traffic in the city’s streets.
Tumulak did not specify the number of cases forwarded to the LTO, but he gave assurances that they will be filing more cases on a daily basis.
“This is very important, we want to send a message that whether public or private vehicles, Citom is serious in our campaign against traffic violators,” Tumulak said.
Once caught violating traffic rules, Citom personnel will issue a TCT which states that a compromise fee of P500 must be settled by the violator within seven days. After which, Citom will file appropriate complaints.
Aside from LTO, Citom also filed cases before the court.
Last Monday, Citom started rounding up violators who were issued bench warrants by the Cebu City Municipal Trial Court in Cities.
Among those tracked down was a college student who only had one violation for disregarding traffic signs but did not immediately settle his obligation.
The Citom apprehends an average of 800-1,000 violators daily, most of which involve disregard of traffic signs, a major cause of traffic congestion.
A single unsettled traffic violation can merit a bench warrant or a complaint with the LTO.