Montero Sport driver in QC mishap blames ‘sudden acceleration’

THE POLICE called it a “self-accident,” but Saturday’s incident on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City can further stoke the controversy hounding the Mitsubishi Montero. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

A woman was rushed to the hospital after the company-owned Mitsubishi Montero Sport she was driving slammed into a concrete barrier of the Skyway project on Araneta Avenue in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City, early Saturday morning.

Cathleen Margareth Sy, a resident of Sto. Domingo Street, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City, sustained head injuries and was brought to Delos Santos Medical Center, her father said in a radio interview.

According to the victim’s father, Sy told him that the Montero suddenly accelerated and this caused her to lose control.

The black sport utility vehicle (SUV) 2013 model (WQI-210) is registered to Megaworld Corp. in Makati City, according to a report by Chief Insp. Manolo Rance Refugia, commander of the Quezon City Police District’s Traffic Sector 4.

The report described the incident as a “self-accident” that happened around 6 a.m. as Sy was driving on Araneta coming from Aurora Boulevard and heading toward Quezon Avenue. The vehicle “accidentally hit/bumped the barrier,’’ it said.

Several complaints have been reported about the Mitsubishi Montero’s sudden unintended acceleration (SUA), which has lately fanned discussion on social media and calls for an investigation.

Since 2011, the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group recorded at least 23 SUA incidents involving Montero SUVs from motorists in Metro Manila, Cavite, Antipolo City, Batangas, Tacloban City and Iloilo City, said Sen. Koko Pimentel in a statement calling for a Senate inquiry.

But in a briefing last week, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) stood pat on its claim that its Montero SUV does not have any design, mechanical nor electronic defect. The company cited the results of tests conducted by experts in the Philippines and from Japan.

“SUA is not possible on the Montero Sport from a technical viewpoint. There are safety check systems on the Montero Sport electronics which will eventually allow the Montero Sport to go to a safe mode in case sensors fail,” said MMPC first vice president Froilan Dytianquin. Erika Sauler