OPLAN SITA. Lt. Col. Franklin Ortiz (second from left), officer-in-charge of Malasiqui Police Station, leads the checkpoint on Wednesday (Nov. 13, 2019) at the central business district of the town. Pangasinan provincial director Redrico Maranan directed the police chiefs to personally lead the checkpoints or Oplan Sita in every town and city of Pangasinan. (Photo courtesy of Malasiqui Police Station)
BINMALEY, Pangasinan -- The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) recorded 5,304 vehicular traffic incidents (VTI) from Jan. 1 to Oct.31 this year, 27.94 percent lower compared to 7,361 incidents in the same period last year.
“The decrease could be attributed to the intensified Oplan Sita and checkpoint operations throughout the province,” said Maj. Exzur Relatado, acting chief for the Provincial Operations and Plans Branch of PPPO, during a command conference here on Tuesday.
He said Pangasinan police conducted 50,935 total operations this year, which resulted in 67,241 apprehensions for various traffic violations.
Relatado said 2,966 motorcycles have been impounded while 59,585 traffic citation tickets were issued.
“The most common violation among those apprehended were not wearing of helmets, with 30,543 incidents,” he added.
Of the total number of VTI recorded this year, 4,432 are motorcycle accidents, Relatado said.
He said of the total number of motorcycle accidents recorded, 159 persons involved died and 128 of them were not wearing helmets. Some 2,791 of them only suffered injuries and 1,482 were not injured.
Relatado said 32 percent of motorcycle incidents were due to reckless driving, 12 percent due to drunk driving, 11 percent for over speeding, 10 percent for bad turning, while the remaining 8 percent is attributed to wrong-way or improper driving.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Ilocos regional office is holding road safety seminars for young people in the region as part of its CARS (Creating Advocates for Road Safety) project of the agency.
LTO-1 regional director, lawyer Teofilo Guadiz III, said CARS project is a nationwide road safety advocacy of the LTO.
“We are now more on the preventive side. There is a paradigm shift from (us being) apprehending officers to road safety advocates because our main thrust is to minimize road accidents or violence on the road,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Guadiz said attendees of the road safety seminar, mostly young individuals, are given interactive lectures about traffic rules, traffic signs, and defensive driving.
“We give them precautions on how to drive safely; the do’s and don’ts in the hope to lessen road accidents. It’s a one-day activity, wherein the morning is composed of lectures while the afternoon is for practical exercises. It’s like an examination (based on what they learned) but without pen and paper instead, we asked them questions posted on the screen and then they answer and we give them prizes,” he said. (PNA)
