Speed limit ordinance takes effect today
ILOILO City – Drivers of motor vehicles going beyond the speed limits set by Regulation Ordinance No. 2015-283 will be apprehended beginning today.
The Transportation Management and Traffic Regulation Office (TMTRO) is joining forces with the Iloilo City Police Office ( ICPO) to enforce the speed limit ordinance.
Licenses of drivers caught overspeeding will be confiscated. They have to pay the city government a fine to retrieve them.
TMTRO purchased 10 speed guns to detect overspeeding vehicles. The ICPO has 10, too.
On the first day of the ordinance’s implementation, TMTRO and the ICPO will focus on Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue (Diversion Road) in Mandurriao district.
It is one of the busiest roads in the city and many vehicular accidents have taken place on this long stretch
of highway, said Robert Foerster, TMTRO chief.
Traffic auxiliaries will be operating in pairs.
“They will position themselves on the center island and use speed guns to ascertain the speed of vehicles. They will also use video cameras to record what’s transpiring. speed gun
video said Foerster. Makita mo ang
sa Traffic nga enforcersgataya sa salakyan,”that detect overspeeding vehicles will immediately alert colleagues positioned some 150 to 200 meters away to apprehend erring drivers.
Drivers who c ontest t heir apprehension will be showed with the videos of their overspeeding vehicles, said Foerster.
Backup traffic enforcers are prepared to give erring drivers a chase should they refuse to stop when flagged down, he added.
TMTRO and the ICPO will start enforcing the speed limit ordinance at 8 a.m.
Each day, the operation will end at 5 p. m. but Foerster said they will eventually extend their operation late into the night if necessary.
“We had a dry- run for almost a month so we expect drivers to be aware of the speed limits,” said Foerster.
Under Regulation Ordinance No. 2015- 283, the maximum speed for automobiles and motorcycles from the corner of General Luna Street to Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and up to Barangay Ungka, Jaro district is 60 kilometers per hour (kph). For trucks and buses, the speed limit is 50 kph. On roads from Barangay Sambag, Jaro to Central Philippine University, Jaro Plaza, Iloilo provincial capitol, and General Luna to Barangay Mohon in Arevalo district, the speed limit for automobiles and motorcycles is 40 kph. For trucks and buses, it is 30 kph. It is 40 kph maximum for automobiles and motorcycles that pass JM Basa Street going to Fort San Pedro, while it is 30 kph for trucks and buses. Within the City Proper, the maximum allowable speed for automobiles and motorcycles is 40 kph. For trucks and buses, it is 30 kph. On the circumferential, radial and coastal roads, the speed limit for automobiles and motorcycles is 60 kph while for trucks and buses, 40 kph. The admissible speed limit for automobiles and motorcycles in all other local or national roads, streets and highways here is 30 kph. For trucks and buses, it is 20 kph.
Speed limits are not applicable during emergencies and law enforcement operations.
Violation of the speed limit ordinance comes with penalties:
* P200 fine and/or imprisonment of one day minimum to two months maximum on first offense
* P500 fine and/ or two months and one day minimum to four months maximum in prison on second offense
* P1,000 fine and/or imprisonment of four months and one day minimum to six months maximum for third and subsequent violations./