People jaywalk because they think they won’t get killed doing it. Well, statistics show that they’re dead wrong.
“The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is considering raising the fines for jaywalkers as it cited the alarming number of accidents involving undisciplined pedestrians,” reports Niña P. Calleja in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report revealed that “from 2010 to 2012, the MMDA recorded 15,500 pedestrian-related accidents, of which 495 resulted in deaths.” Quezon City has the most number of fatal accidents based on the 2012 figures.
Then, in 2013 alone, around 5,800 pedestrians figured in road accidents on Metro Manila roads.
The MMDA lamented that “despite the construction of footbridges and designation of zebra lanes, a lot of pedestrians still choose to jaywalk and risk life and limb, he added.”
In 2012, the Metro Manila Council, the policy-making body of the MMDA composed of the mayors of the 17 local governments in the capital, increased the penalty for jaywalking from P150 to P200.
However, erring pedetrians are asked to choose between paying the fine or attending a 30-minute seminar on disaster response and assistance given by the MMDA.
As these penalties haven’t managed to curb jaywalking, the MMDA is pushing local government units to help come up with policies that can make the problem walk away, so to speak.
Photo from MorgueFile
