LTO to enforce law
on early warning devices starting March 1
By Philippine Information
Agency (PIA 8)
February 14, 2013
TACLOBAN CITY – The Land
Transportation Office in Eastern Visayas, starting March 1, 2013, will
enforce the law that mandates drivers of public and private 4-wheeled
vehicles to carry a pair of the prescribed standard early warning
devices (EWD).
This was disclosed by LTO
Regional Director Edgardo Catarongan during the Information campaign
conducted on February 14 at the LTO Regional Office.
Dir. Catarongan said this
was in line with nationwide directives, LOI 229 and Memorandum
Circular No. VPT-2012-1609 dated December 13, 2011re: Revised Rules on
the Implementation of the Early Warning Devices.
Director Catarongan appealed
to owners of four-wheeled vehicles to begin acquiring the prescribed
yellow and red triangles that are to be used as early warning devices
in order to ensure the safety of road users, especially when vehicles
that encounter trouble were forced to park alongside the road.
The LTO director noted that
many vehicle owners do not have these objects in their driven units
and it is a common site where owners or drivers of four-wheeled
distressed vehicles parked alongside the road use other items such as
broken tree branches as an early warning device.
The prescribed triangular
early warning device will have to meet LTO standards and should pass
inspection by the said agency, Director Catarongan said. A sticker
shall be attached to the back to show that it had been approved by the
LTO.
Catarongan underscored that
under the Revised Rules on the Implementation of Early Warning
Devices, the presentation of these accessories are not a requirement
for motor vehicle registration but these should be presented during
checkpoints upon demand by a deputized traffic law enforcer when
apprehended for another offense.
People who fail to carry and
present the EWDs would be fined and penalized for non-compliance,
Director Catarongan said, even as he clarified that tricycles and
motorcycles are exempted from such law.