211 MINORS INVOLVED IN ROAD ACCIDENTS IN MANDAUE SINCE ‘19

TRAFFIC incidents involving minors have reached 211 in Mandaue City for the past four years, ranging from jaywalking to motorcycle back-riding.

Mandaue City Police Office-Traffic Enforcement Unit (MCPO-TEU) data revealed there were at least 76 children-related road incidents in 2019, 52 in 2020, 45 in 2021, 27 in 2022 and 11 from January to May in 2023.

Lt. Col. Lirio Coral, chief of the MCPO-TEU, said these cases mostly involved minors aged 13-18 years old and school children.

The MCPO-TEU implemented interventions to prevent these incidents including removing road islands, particularly along the University of Cebu School of Medicine (UCMed), trimming plants along the road islands, and imposing speed limits on motorists traversing national highways.

Coral said they hope to install an outdoor traffic-LED display board advertising substantial information on traffic safety and security and other similar intervention with the purpose of reducing traffic accidents.

Last January, the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team) launched a widespread education campaign focusing on teaching children the importance of obeying traffic signs, particularly elementary students.

Edwin Jumao-as, Team’s executive director, said they target to finish the campaign in all elementary schools this year and move on to high schools by 2024.

Jumao-as said they had an agreement with the Department of Education Mandaue City division to conduct training.

On Friday, May 19, Team conducted a seminar for students of the Tabok Elementary School.

“The parents who are violators, their child will say, ‘Dad, we can’t cross the pedestrian here.’ So, we parents are encouraged that our child knows the traffic rules. Let us then emulate our children,” said Jumao-as in Cebuano

Meanwhile, most parents urged for more traffic enforcer presence, particularly near schools, to ensure students are monitored crossing pedestrian lanes.

Gera Anida, 34, from Barangay Subangdaku, said traffic enforcers should man areas near schools to prioritize the safety of students.

Marie Fuente, 40, from Barangay Tabok, who has a child studying elementary, emphasized the need for enforcers to watch for speeding drivers. /