QUEZON CITY Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday said that the city government has launched three new road safety policies aimed at creating safer streets and protecting residents from road traffic injuries and deaths.
Belmonte said the new policies are the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the city's Comprehensive Road Safety Code, Safe School Zone ordinance, and an executive order that would establish Quezon City’s Road Safety Working Group (QC-RSWG).
“We will continue working to ensure that everyone is safe on Quezon City roads. We are also proud that Quezon City has prepared for this next phase by training assessors who will help conduct school road safety audits and identify opportunities for road safety engineering interventions,” Belmonte said.
In 2018, the city government enacted the Comprehensive Road Safety Code to create safer roads.
“This ordinance — a first of its kind in the Philippines — adopts the Safe System Approach, a global road safety framework that calls for designing safer road systems to prevent serious injuries and fatalities," Belmonte said.
With the signing of its IRR, she said the policy now moves toward implementation, coordination, and effective and sustained enforcement.
Data from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) showed that Quezon City has the highest number of road crash incidents in Metro Manila.
The Safe School Zone ordinance, meanwhile, aims to strengthen measures that will ensure the welfare and protection of students within and around school premises, including protection from road and traffic injuries, according to Councilor Julienne Alyson Rae Medalla.
“The ordinance mandates the implementation of safer speed limits, improvement of pedestrian facilities, and enhancement of traffic management around schools,” Medalla said.
According to Traffic and Transport Management Department head Dexter Cardenas, the QC-RSWG will be responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the city’s road safety action plan, communications plans, and other road safety-related policies, programs and initiatives.
Sophia San Luis, ImagineLaw executive director, praised Belmonte and her administration for continuously championing safer roads for all.
“As a pioneer in enacting a comprehensive road safety code, we hope that Quezon City inspires more cities and municipalities to do the same,” San Luis said.
Belmonte said the initiative forms part of the city’s collaboration with the Partnership for Healthy Cities, a global network of more than 70 cities committed to preventing noncommunicable diseases and injuries.
