No road safety fund, no vehicle safety regulations

Not only does the Philippines have no vehicle safety regulations, government funding for road safety stopped in 2018 when a law abolished the Road Board.

These revelations were made by World Health Organization (WHO) representative Eric Lazarte who spoke on the status of road safety in the Philippines at the Vehicle Safety Course held last Tuesday in Pasay City by the New Car

Assessment Program for Southeast Asia (ASEAN NCAP).

ASEAN NCAP is an automobile safety rating program jointly established by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and the Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP). It aims to elevate motor vehicle safety standards in the ASEAN region, and encourage a market for safer vehicles by conducting crash tests at the MIROS Provisional CRASE Crash Center, Japan Automobile Research Institute, Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Crashlab Australia, and China Automotive Technology and Research Center, Co. Ltd.

At the conference last week, a book containing all the results of the vehicles tested since crash testing began in 2012 up to 2018, was distributed to the audience.

Aside from MIROS and Global NCAP, the member organizations are the Automobile Associations of Malaysia (AAM), the Philippines (AAP) and Singapore (AA Singapore). The MoU establishing the ASEAN NCAP was signed during the annual meeting of the FIA Foundation in New Delhi in 2011.

The 4th Vehicle Safety Course 2019 gathered speakers from the PH Land Transportation Office, Autoliv (a Swedish automotive safety supplier with 14 technical centers around the world, including 19 test tracks), Nissan Motor Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., Denso, Honda R&D Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., and Toyota Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., together with Lazarte, AAP president Gus Lagman, and MIROS executives Salina Mustaffa and Yahaya Amad.

NO MORE FUNDS. Going back to funding for road safety in the Philippines, Lazarte said that the Road Board was authorized by law to distribute the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) proportionately: 80 percent for the road support fund, 7.5 percent for the road safety fund, 5 percent for the local road fund, and 7.5 percent for vehicle pollution control.

However, in 2018 a law was passed that abolished the Road Board without providing funds for road safety.

The law was passed despite the publication and official launch of the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan 2017-2022. At the same time,the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the lead agency for road safety, has a National Road Safety Strategy launched in 2011 that seeks to

reduce road traffic fatalities by 50 percent by 2020.

DOTr’s safer roads strategy includes requiring audits for new road infrastructures, inspections/star ratings of existing roads, investments to upgrade high-risk locations, and policies and investment on urban public transport. It includes designing road standards for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, but the DOTr implements this only partially.

Despite the government’s road safety programs, the progress of which is never reported to the public, the number of road crash-related deaths in the Philippines rose from 6,869 in 2006 to 10,012 in 2015.

According to PSA data, 78.61 percent or 7,194 of road traffic deaths in 2014 were among the economically productive age groups of 15 – 64 years old, with ages 20-24 the highest, followed by ages 25- 29.

A factor that should be taken into account is that the country’s motorization continues apace with the number of motor vehicles registered rising from a total of 9,251,565 units in 2016, to 11,595,434 units in 2018.

LOOPHOLES. Meanwhile, road traffic-related fatalities continue to increase in the Philippines despite legislation on speed limits, seatbelt use, motorcycle helmet use, distracted driving, and drugged or drunk driving. However, these laws have loopholes.

For example, the national speed limit law sets 40 kph as the maximum urban speed limit and 80 kph as the max rural speed limit, but no speed limit for motorways (highways.) It also allows local authorities to modify the speed limits. Enforcement of this law, on a scale of zero to 10, is rated at 5 by the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015.

The national drunk driving law requires probable cause, such as a fatal crash, before random breath testing can be carried out. No data is available on the percentage of traffic deaths involving

alcohol. Enforcement on a scale of zero to 10, is rated at a very poor 4.

The national motorcycle helmet law applies to riders (a.k.a. drivers) and passengers, but helmet fastening is not mandatory. The helmet wearing rate is reported at 87 percent of the riders and 51 percent of passengers, thus the enforcement rate on a scale of zero to 10 is 6.

The distracted driving law bans hand-held mobile phone use while driving, but allows hands-free mobile phone use — which, according to experts, is just as distracting.

The newest road safety law is the national child restraint law prohibiting children age six years and below from sitting in the front seat. It also requires a child safety car seat with standard specs. However, this law is so new that no data on enforcement or compliance is available.

Loopholes and the lax enforcement of road safety laws are not the only contributors to the rising death toll on our roads.

NO VEHICLE SAFETY

REGULATIONS. The Philippines does not follow the vehicle safety standards of the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), such as the frontal impact standard, electronic stability control (ESC), pedestrian protection, and motorcycle anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Our National Seatbelt Law applies to front and rear occupants, but there is no law requiring vehicles to have seatbelts, safety belts and restraint systems.

There is no law requiring vehicles to have airbags. A few mini subcompact cars, in fact, are being sold with a driver’s airbag as an option.

Aside from the absence of the above, we have no vehicle safety regulations mandating side collision protection, ABS, ISOFIX anchorage for child safety seats, advanced emergency braking systems, and pole impact protection.

Fortunately for consumers shopping for a new car, some automakers doing business in the Philippines offer affordable vehicles with active and passive safety features complying with the WP.29 standard.

In the meantime, the region welcomes the mission of ASEAN NCAP to provide information on the safety level of cars in a systematic and understandable manner, and consequently to recognize the efforts of manufacturers in producing safer vehicles beyond current legislation.