* 10 things a driver should know when driving in the metropolis

[Kano]

10 things a driver should know when driving in the metropolis    


Business Mirror, Thursday, 16 September 2010

IF you live and drive in Metro Manila, it is almost a certainty that an MMDA traffic enforcer has gotten on your nerves at one time or another. The reason for this is that you were probably apprehended for an obscure, illogical or possibly inexistent traffic violation. I have to admit that I am one of these people I have just described.

That experience and the uneasy feeling that I now have whenever I meet an MMDA traffic enforcer (which adds to the tension of driving in an already stressful environment) inspired me to search for someone who could explain things to me without the usual innuendos that you get from the MMDA guys themselves.

I finally found useful information when my cousin, Police Superintendent Paterno P. Hernandez, directed me to the MMDA website at www.mmda.gov.ph. Hernandez said the rules described in the website are absolute and have very little room for interpretation.

Here's the short version of the rules:

• MMDA traffic enforcers are supposed to work alone and are not allowed to group together–not even in groups of two–while apprehending a motorist unless they are involved in a specific operation.  They must individually walk up to drivers to inform them of their violation.
  
  
• Swerving is not a traffic violation. The official definition of swerving is "a movement wherein a vehicle shifts from one lane to another." This is legal for a moving vehicle and, unless done in a hazardous manner or without the use of signal lights, cannot be a basis for apprehension.
  
  
• MMDA enforcers cannot confiscate a driver's license.  Unless drivers violate specific traffic rules, they are not supposed to surrender their licenses to traffic enforcers. Exemptions to this rule are cases of involvement in accidents, accumulation of three or more traffic violation tickets, illegal counter flow, illegal transfer of plates/tags/stickers and violations by public transport drivers. (In cases of confiscation, drivers must be informed of their violation before the license is taken from them. If the driver refuses, his plates may be detached instead.)
  
  
• Yellow lanes are off limits to private vehicles. Only city buses are allowed inside the yellow lanes. Private vehicles are only allowed access to the yellow lanes at the break markers when they are entering a side road. Even provincial buses are not allowed inside the yellow lanes.
  
  
• City buses are not allowed outside the yellow lane. City buses must stay within the yellow lane and should not move out into lanes designated for private vehicles. Buses are given two lanes located in the rightmost portion of a metro highway.
  
  
• Traffic enforcers have mission orders.  They all have individual jobs and not all of them are allowed to issue traffic tickets.  When apprehended, drivers may ask for the enforcers' mission orders to identify their area of responsibility, time of duty and authority to issue traffic violation tickets.
  
  
• Enforcers must be in full uniform with identifying name tags when apprehending violators.  They must also conduct the apprehension in as quick a manner as possible, directing the offending vehicle to the roadside to avoid obstructing the flow of traffic.
  
  
• The apprehending enforcer is allowed to issue another TVR (traffic violation report) for towing fees. If the owner of the impounded vehicle fails to get his vehicle released after paying the fine on the stipulated date, the impounding officer should issue a separate TVR indicating the number of days it has remained in the impounding area.
  
  
• Before apprehending violators, enforcers are required to flag the vehicle down on the roadside to avoid obstructing the flow of traffic. They are to inform drivers of their violation, ask for their licenses politely, quickly fill out the TVR and finish the procedure.
  
  
• Traffic enforcers cannot require drivers to alight from their vehicles. Enforcers must inform the drivers of their violation from the window of the car and keep the drivers within their vehicles to ensure the safety of both the enforcer and the driver. Enforcers are definitely not allowed to ask or receive bribe money from the violator.

The following are considered as valid drivers' licenses:

• ID plastic card
  
  
• DLR/temporary driver's license
  
  
• TOP/temporary operators permit
  
  
• International driver's license
  
  
• Foreign license

Traffic enforcers are not policemen. They are only tasked to perform specific functions of police officers in case of a lack of manpower in the police force.  They are only deputized entities and do not have the powers of regular cops.

Also, only legal, plantilla officers of law-enforcement agencies are allowed to confiscate licenses. They are the Philippine National Police (PNP), Land Transportation Office (LTO) Flying Squad and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). And even within these organizations, only those tasked with law-enforcement duties (as opposed to those performing desk or clerical jobs) can apprehend violators and confiscate licenses.

In cases when you do get into an argument with an MMDA traffic enforcer, get his name and send a written complaint to the Traffic Adjudication Board, MMDA Building, Edsa corner Orense Street, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City. Or you can text them immediately at 0917-5618709 (and hope that someone answers you at once).

Needless to say, the best way to avoid all the hassle is to follow traffic rules and not get apprehended at all.