DPWH joins road safety campaign
May 28, 2010 12:13 pm
By Lynda B. Valencia
MANILA, May 28 — To assure the safety of pedestrians especially during the opening of classes this June and in response with the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) latest study regarding the increase of accidents among pedestrian, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) conducts road maintenance works along national roads near school vicinities nationwide.
DPWH Secretary Victor Domingo said that he has already instructed all regional directors and district engineers to conduct re-painting of pedestrian crossings in front of schools and in remove unsafe billboards/signages along sidewalks especially in Metro Manila.
The DPWH is also a member of the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP), a project wherein its primary purpose is to assess the status of road safety in the Philippines and recommend needed immediate actions to promote mitigate pedestrian accidents.
Domingo also added that in coordination with the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP), Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), University of the Philippines-National Center for Transport Studies (UP-NCTS), Land Transportation Office (LTO) and DPWH, the iRAP was developed to provide road inspection methodology which is dedicated to save lives in developing countries by promoting safer road infrastructure.
"We hope that by being part of IRAP, we can call the attention of everybody, especially the private sector and civil society to also actively participate and be one with the government in preventing road accidents in the country," Domingo added.
To ensure the effective and coordinated implementation of the iRAP, the DPWH formed an Inter-Agency Steering Committee (IASC) to coordinate with the iRAP Project Team.
IRAP targets high-risk roads where large numbers of people are killed and seriously injured and inspects them to identify where affordable programs of safety engineering can reduce road accidents.
In the Philippines an estimated total of 10,000 people die in road accidents each year. Pedestrians represent a large portion of the fatalities and the iRAP aims to focus on this area. (PNA LOR/LBV
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