Congress has formed a Technical Working Group (TWG) to consolidate two pending bills that aim to establish fair investigation and accountability in road incidents and traffic violations.
In a virtual hearing headed by Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, the House Committee on Transportation decided to form a TWG to combine two House bills with similar salient points: House Bill 899 entitled “An act establishing fair investigation and accountability for road crashes and for other purposes” filed by Batangas 1st District Rep. Mario Vittorio ‘Marvey’ Mariño and House Bill 1987 entitled “An act to promote responsible driving and establish fair accountability for road safety incidents and violation of traffic laws and regulations and for other purposes,” authored by Iligan City Rep. Frederick Siao.
Determining who is at fault
In his privilege speech, Rep. Mariño said that though several laws on road safety have been enacted, some groups have been questioning these measures, citing bias — particularly on the application and implementation of existing road safety laws.
Rep. Mariño cited the case of driver Teddy Gotis who was arrested when a minor, in a motorcycle with no helmet and intoxicated, died after ramming into his truck. Being the truck driver, Gotis was automatically presumed at fault.
“It has merely been the practice of law enforcers to presume the culpability of a driver of a bigger vehicle. In practice, police officers arrest, detain, and charge drivers who only appear to be at fault but are not factually at fault. Clearly, the problem lies not only on the law but also the application of the law. Thus there is a needed legislation to provide proper evaluation and investigation by police authorities of the circumstances and evidence relative to road crashes in order to ensure that erring drivers/individuals—not innocent drivers—are held accountable,” the lawmaker stressed.
Combining similar bills
Currently, there are two similar bills pending Congress tackling the fair investigation and accountability for road incidents.
Under Rep. Mariño’s House Bill 899, the fault shall be presumed in the following instances:
- When the driver is intoxicated or driving under the influence of illegal drugs
- When the driver has no license or has an expired license
- When there is failure [on the part of the driver] to present the Official Receipt or Certificate of Registration (OR/CR) when asked by the first responder
- When there is a commission of other serious traffic violations
- When the driver flees the scene of the crime
- When there is no evidence [presented by the driver] of franchise or Certificate of Public Convenience presented during apprehension
- When the person injured was not crossing at a pedestrian lane or road intersection
- When the person injured crosses the street or highway instead of using the designated pedestrian crossing or nearby footbridge
- When the person injured is a motorcycle/bicycle/tricycle not wearing road safety devices traveling on a national highway and not driving in the designated or rightmost lane of the roadway in accordance with international standards
- When the driver or person injured did not have the right of way at the exact time of the accident
- Other analogous circumstances
This bill also designates the Philippine National Police (PNP) Highway Patrol Group (HPG) as the lead agency that will investigate major road crashes. For minor incidents, the Traffic Investigation Unit of the concerned LGU will take charge of the scene and investigation.
Meanwhile, under House Bill 1987 of Rep. Siao, the driver will not be automatically presumed at fault if:
- The victim is intoxicated or under the influence of drugs
- The victim was not crossing the street at a pedestrian lane or road intersection
- The victim crossed a street or highway instead of using a footbridge
- The victim is a bike rider not wearing protective gear or wearing dark clothing
- The victim is operating a motorcycle, tricycle, or bicycle traveling on a national highway under the minimum speed limit or not on the rightmost lane
- The victim is a driver who did not have right of way
- The driver did not flee the scene of the incident
- The driver was suffering a medical emergency, like a heart attack or stroke, at the time of the accident
- The driver of the other vehicle has non-functional headlights, taillights, or other warning devices
To conclude the hearing, the Congress panel moved to form a technical working group that will work on combining the bills filed by Rep. Mariño and Rep. Siao.