712 vehicle accidents in Baguio in 9 months

By Jessa Mardy P. Samidan

BAGUIO CITY -- A total of 712 accidents involving vehicles and motorcycles were responded to by the Baguio City Police Office January to September 26, 2023.
    Data from the BCPO showed an increase of vehicular traffic accidents this year compared to the 644 incidents recorded for the same period last year.
    BCPO chief of operations Lt. Col. Domingo Gambican said due to human error involving drivers manning the vehicles.
Other reasons were mechanical defects and driving under the influence of liquor.
    Most of the vehicular accidents resulted in damage to property, physical injury and homicide cases for some.
    Based on the BCPO 2023 data on VTAs, most accidents this year transpired from January to March when there was tourism influx with the relaxing of health protocols from the past years.
    With the increasing number of road crashes in the city, Gambican reminds motorists to always check brakes, lights, oil, water, battery, air and gasoline/diesel before travelling to ensure that all travels lead to safe return.
    “We also advise the public to anticipate road traffic and leave earlier to their destinations so they won’t be late. Sometimes, rushing to your destinations leads to more accidents on the road,” Gambican said.

He added BCPO personnel are being deployed during traffic rush hour from 6AM to 8AM and 4PM to 7PM to help ease traffic, however, he said they are being mocked as being the one causing traffic.

In addition, he reminded the public to adhere to City Ordinance No. 7, series of 2010 or the King of the Road Ordinance which requires all motorists to fully stop for five seconds before pedestrian lanes or slow down upon approaching a pedestrian lane to allow people to cross.

Last year, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong directed the BCPO to strengthen its information and education campaign on road safety using the Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS) in strategically deploying police personnel along identified accident-prone areas in aim to abate the increase of VTAs.