LOWER SPEED LIMITS ON ROAD PROPOSED

To make roads safer for commuters and pedestrians, especially children, various stakeholders are calling for the reduction in speed limits to save lives.

The reduction in speed limits was recently proposed during the launching of SaveLives #SlowDown road safety campaign hosted by SM Prime Holdings at Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

The campaign involving various stakeholders organized by Safe Kids Worldwide Philippines (SKWP) aims to bring back security in the streets.

Jocelyn Yambao-Franco, president of SWKP, stressed the need to slow down on the road as she cited that worldwide, an estimated 1.25 million die and over 50 million were injured in road crashes annually.

In the Philippines, road accidents kill an average of 34 Filipinos a day and are the main cause of death among youngsters aged 15 to 19 years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Dr. Benjamin Lane, health systems team leader of World Health Organization Philippines, said reducing speed limits even by just one kilometer per hour would save lives.

Jesus de la Fuente, executive director of SKWP, agreed, saying that a large portion of fatal road crashes were caused by speeding.

“A great portion of our road traffic crashes, especially those that are fatal are caused by speeding and it has already proven that a 5-percent cut in average speed can result in a 30-percent reduction in the number of fatal road traffic crashes. This is what we hope to achieve,” De la Fuente stressed.

He warned that if the government and the public did not introduce effective road safety interventions, more people would die or get injured in road accidents.

He noted that road traffic crashes had increased in the country for the past several years. “Government data show transport-related crashes in the country have increased sharply from 15,572 in 2014 to 24, 565 in 2016,” he said.

SM Supermalls and SM Cares hosted the SKWP, Safe Kids Worldwide Network, Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association, Inc. and the WHOin launching the event.

At the launching, road safety advocates from the government and private sectors pledged to raise awareness and implement reforms that would educate the public on the importance of road safety and the need to address the grim statistics in recent years.

Mark de Leon, Assistant Transportation Secretary, said they were to implement various programs that would make roads safer.