TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

HISTORY OF TRANSPORTATION:

Transportation is the movement or conveying of persons and goods

from one location to another.

Man’s need to travel dates back as early as the creation of human

beings. Biblical passages alleged that when Adam and Eve ate the fruit
of the forbidden tree, they were sent out by God from Paradise of
Eden. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Since then, the human race expanded and our ancestors constantly
move from one place to another to enable them to survive and others
for various reasons. Other biblical passages mentioned that Moses was
chosen by God to speak to the Pharaoh, King of Egypt to let His
children out of Egypt. So, the children of Israel were gloriously
brought out from Egypt to serve God.

Soon, others became nomadic. They constantly migrate from one

place to another according to their own detailed knowledge of
exploitable resources.

The term nomad, from the Greek, “to pasture”, was originally used
to refer to pastoralists – groups that migrate in an established
pattern to find pasture lands for their domestic livestock. However,
the term has since been generalized to include all non-settled
populations, of which there are three types.

The first type comprises foraging populations who walk in search

of their food. It is estimated that 99% of all humanity once lived in
this way.

The second type, the most significant numerically and

historically, comprises the pastoral nomads who move with their
families, belongings, and herds of cattle, camel, sheep, or goats
through an annual cycle of pastures whose availability is determined
by the alteration of hot and cold and cold and wet and dry seasons.

The third comprises gypsies, tinkers, and similar itinerants in

urban and complex societies.

VARIOUS ANCIENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION:

A. MANPOWER:

Stone Age man’s transportation of firewood and of animals killed

in the hunt probably led to the invention of the sled, from the sled
early man may have got the idea for skis-pieces of smooth board
resembling sled runners but worn on the feet of the hunter and later
of snow-shoes.

The first water craft and the canoe probably evolved from the
floating log. The greatest advance in land transportation the sled was
the wheel, probably first invented in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley some
time before 3500 B.C.

The ancient Egyptians took little time or on part in this

invention. The great blocks of stone that went to make the pyramids
were floated in barges down the Nile River and then moved over the
land on sleds running in rollers.
 Gangs of slaves dragged the blocks of stone by means of large
ropes, while other slaves at the rear of the sled pick-up the rollers
over which the sled has passed and hurried around to place them at the
front. To raise the blocks of tone to their position in the pyramids,
the Egyptians build damps.

a. Carrying pole – China, other parts of the Far East, and Island
of Pacific
b. Back load and tumpline – Subtemala (pots on the forehead),
Andes (load at the back by strap passing over chest)
c. Sledge on rollers/runners – Old Stone Age in Northern Europe
d. Travois – the pole arrangement called serves as platforms on
which the burdens are placed.

B. ANIMAL:

But while human muscles power was still in widespread use for
transport in ancient Egypt, animal muscle power was being widely
exploited in the other river valley civilizations.

The ox (Africa), the ass, and the camel were controlled somewhere
in the Middle East by 3000 B.C. In the arctic snows the reindeer
(Siberia), which can carry a load of about 130lbs. (60kgs.) without
much effort, is still widely used.

In the higher altitudes of the Himalayas the yak(Tibet), a

species of ox, is used as a pack animal. In India the beast of burden
is often the elephants (Burma/Thailand).

In Peru, the llama is domesticated and used as a pack animal. The

horse was controlled somewhere in its native habitant on the steppes
of Central Asia. Until the invention of the horse collar, about 900
A.D. horse was raised like oxen. A yoke passed over the wishers, and a
strap tightened on the horse’s chest when it pulled, half strangling
the animal.

The Roman knows little of anatomy, did not realized that what was
good harness for the ox was a very poor harness for the horses. Where
the horse was used for transportation during the Middle Ages, it was
mainly a pack animal, carrying loads of about 150lbs. (70kgs.) in two
panniers at its side.

Another invention that played a great part in the history of

transportation was the horseshoe. In its wild state the horses can
gallop for long distance on the soft grass of the Asiatic steppes. But
if it is driven on a hard, metal road its soft hoofs soon became
broken and it goes lame. An iron horseshoe, mailed around the edges of
the hard hoofs, stops the hoop from breaking away. It appears that the
iron horseshoe was invented in Gaul about the time of Julius Caesar,
and taken to Britain soon afterward.

C. WIND POWER:

Primitive man may have be hoisted crude sails of skin on his

crafts or canoes, for there is clear evidence of the migration of
people over wide stretches of ocean long before 3000 B.C. The ship of
Egypt, Phoenicia, and Greece was driven partly by a large square sail
amidships and partly by cars.

In other part of the world the original dugout canoe developed in

different kinds of water craft. In the North Sea a ship that was sharp
at both ends like a canoe, developed whereas in Mediterranean type
remained in use in some regions a completely different type of ocean-
going water craft, the outrigger canoe, developed. In Chinese water at
junk appeared.

Mediterranean were all caravel built, that is, the planks were
placed side-by-side like the boards on the floor, and the cracks
between the boards and water tight with tar.

A great aid to sea transportation reached Europe about 1200 in

the form of the ships, compass, a device first known among Chinese
sailors and then transmitted by the Arabs. An important improvement in
ship building took place about 1450 with the development of the three
mast ships. Thereafter the story of sea transportation is largely the
story of the conquest of the whole globe by the three masts ship.

a. Ancient Chinese kite – Korea

b. Da Vinci’s Ornithopter – study the flight of the birds
c. Montgolfier balloon – Montgolfier brothers of France (Joseph
Michel and Jacques Entienne)
d. Siemens’ rocket plane – Ernst Werner Von Siemens
e. Lilienthal glider – Otto Lilienthal (German) flight of the
birds, 1891 he made the first of a number of glider flights
f. Santos Dumont’s Airship – Alberto Santos Dumont (Brazilian),
experiment the steam powered balloon – he made his first balloon
ascent in 1897, 1898 completed the construction of his first airship,
1901 made a 30mins. Round trip between St. Louis and the Eiffel Tower
g. Wright brothers’ flying machine – Orville and Wilbur they
built biplane kite then over 200 different wing types, first man-
carrying powered machine successfully at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on
Dec. 17, 1903. 1909 beginning commercial manufacture of the machine.
h. Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis – first airmail was delivered
in 1911, first solo flight from New York to Paris made by Capt.
Charles A. Lindbergh in May 1927 in a plane especially built for the
flight, the Spirit of St. Louis

D. ROAD AND VEHICLE:

Wheel was invented probably in Western Asia – such invention was

a milestone and a great step forward in transportation. Crude carts
and wagons began to appear in TIGRIS-EUPHRATES VALLEY about 3500 BC
and later in CRETE, EGYPT and CHINA.

EARLIEST TYPES OF WHEELED CARTS:

a. Solid wheels on fixed axle – solid wheels, which is made of a

single piece of wood rotated on single axle
b. Sumerian chariot with flank wheels – solid wheels built up of
three pieces
c. Greek quadria with spoked wheels – drawn by four horses, had
spoked wheels and axles of irons or bronze,
d. Roman carpentum – closed two wheeled cart (used by Roman
womaen journeyed outside the city
e. Italian cocchio 1288 traveling wagon in which the passengers
were protected by a covering of leather or cloth fixed over a wooden
framework

The Romans brought road building to its highest point of

perfection in ancient times. The Romans road network reached a total
of about 50,000 miles (80,000 kms.) with “Feeder” roads branching out
from the main highways. The roads were costly because Roman road
engineers assumed that deep foundations, formed by layer after a heavy
stones, were necessary to make the roads that would carry heavy
traffic for many years.
 This theory was not completely abandoned until JOHN L. MCADAM
perfected the macadamized road in England about 1815. Realizing that a
dry native soil would support any weight. McAdam made the surface of
his road completely meter tight and curbed so that rain would not run
off them as off a roof. He did this by rounding and rolling a layer of
small stones into a hard surface. His road remained the best that
could be devised until the rubber tires of automobiles began to tear
them to pieces about the end of the last century.

BICYCLE – served as the nursery of automobile builders (early 19th

century)

HOBBY HORSE or DAN HORSE –modern ancestors of the modern bicycle.

The wheels were made of wood, with tires of iron, and the riders
pushed themselves along with their feet on the ground.

KARL VON DRAIS – 1817 introduced a steerable wheel creating the

“draisienne” or “dandy horse”

KIRKPATRICK MACMILLAN – 1838 (Scott) made the first machine with

pedals, which were attached to and drove the rear wheel

JOHN BOYD DUNLOP – 1888 (Scott) made the pneumatic tires

(inflated by air)

ETIENNE LENOIR – introduction of motorized carriages – INTERNAL

COMBUSTION ENGINE about 1860’s – 70’s

NICOLAUS OTTO and GOTTLIEB DAIMLER – pioneered the manufacture of

gas engines

RUDOLF DIESEL – (German) developed an internal combustion engine

which uses liquid fuel known as “DIESEL FUEL”

HENRY FORD – 1908 introduced the “MODEL T” which proved so

popular in 1914

Presently, introduction of LRT and MRT, flyovers, rock shed, and

other modern traffic ways

FUNDAMENTALS OF TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT:

The word traffic originates from a Greco-Roman word “TRAFICO”

with reference to the movement of people that dates back from the
dawns of history, from the domesticated horse drawn wheels to
horseless carriage.

The Greek originally called the system “TRAFIGA” after the early
horse-drawn chariots with spoke wheels. The wheeled chariots are
considered one of man’s greatest inventions of the time and become a
vital alley to the armies of summer in defense against the invaders of
the old Mesopotamia.

If savant of Rome is to be believed, there is no dispute that the

word trafico is a Greco-Roman word, but the word traffic was crafted
from the famous “Trafalgar Square” the hub-center of commerce and
culture in the heart of London.

But in Latin, the word traffic is denominated as “COMMERCIUM”

with reference to the movement and control of goods in transit, from
unwheeled axle to horseless carriage.
MANAGEMENT – skillful use of means to accomplish a purpose
 OPERATION – course of series of acts to effect a certain purpose;
manner of action; vital or natural proceeds of activity

ROADWAY – part of traffic way over which motor vehicle pass

SHOULDER – either side of the roadway

TRAFFIC – movement of persons, goods, or vehicles either powered

by combustion system or animal drawn, from one place to another for
the purpose of travel.

TRAFFIC WAY –entire width between boundary lines of every way or

place of which any part is open to the use of the public for purposes
of vehicular traffic as a matter of right or custom

WHY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT IS NECESSARY? – designed to make the

traffic way safer for travelers, expedite the movement of traffic, and
to provide convenience to the traffic facilities.

CAUSES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION:

a. Physical inadequacy – lack of roads, bridges, traffic

facilities, rail road, etc.
b. Poor control measure – ineffective mechanical control devices,
inefficient traffic enforcers, poor implementation of traffic laws,
rules and regulations
c. human errors – slow drivers or poor driving habits, pedestrian
mistakes, officers’ error etc.
d. Poor maintenance – unrepaired digging, unfinifished road
pavement because of inappropriate budget

SCOPES OF TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT:

1. All public surface facilities traversing and parking and all

types of conveyances for the movement of persons and things.
2. All agencies responsible for ascertaining traffic flow
requirements, planning, approving, funding, construction and/or
maintaining these public facilities.
3. All agencies responsible for licensing, approving,
restricting, stopping, prohibiting or controlling the use of these
facilities.

AGENCIES INVOLVED IN TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT:

1. DoTC THROUGH LTO which is responsible for the implementation

of RA 4136, through LTFRB.
2. City/Municipal Engineer’s Office
3. DPWH
4. Legislative (Congress/City or Municipal Boards)
5. PNP through PNP-TMG
6. Academic institution
7. Courts – responsible for the adjudication of traffic-related
cases filed before them.
8. Public information office – through - PIA
9. Citizen support groups –NGO’s
10. Media – publications, radio, television broadcast

THE PILLARS OF TRAFFIC:

TRAFFIC ENGINEERING - science of measuring traffic and travel,

study of the basic laws relative to the traffic flow and generation,
and application of this knowledge to the professional practice of
planning, and the operating traffic systems to achieve safe and
efficient movement of persons and goods.

TRAFFIC EDUCATION - is the process of giving training and travel

and practice in the actual application of traffic safety knowledge.

TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT – deals mostly on the implementation and

enforcement of traffic laws and rules and regulations. The action
taken by the police, such as arresting, issuing traffic citation
ticket, and giving warning to the erring drivers for the purpose of
deterring and discouraging and/or to preventing such violation.

TRAFFIC ECOLOGY/ENVIRONMENT - is the study of dealing with

potentially disastrous population explosion, changes in urban
environment due to the scale and density of a new urban concentration
and new activities carried out, air pollution, water pollution and
crowding, especially transport congestion which result therein.

TRAFFIC ECONOMY - is the study how people choose to use scarce or

limited productive resources to produce commodities and distribute
them for their consumption.

TRAFFIC SAFETY EDUCATION:

- process of training roads users in the avoidance and prevention

of traffic related accidents.
ROAD SAFETY – reduced risk of accident or injury on the roads,
achieved through multidisciplinary approaches involving road
engineering and traffic management, education and training of road
users, and vehicles design.

BASIC TYPES OF INSTRUCTION METHODS:

a. COMPREHENSIVE – places the student into real life of driving

situations from the beginning.
b. TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION – type of instruction depends on
instructor-student communication.
c. COMMENTARY DRIVING METHOD – student-driver accompanied by an
instructor. As the student-driver drives, the instructor has to give a
commentary on his driving – what he sees, what he does, why he does,
etc.
d. SIMULATED CONDITIONS – on and off road training – the premise
of simulated conditions training is that the behavior of the driver –
subject placed in condition will be relatively analogous to normal
behavior.

SIMULATOR – static machine with all the important features of a

car used in driving method/training.

BIORHYTHM - is the theory which asserts that a man exhibits

constant variation of life, energy and mood states.

TRAFFIC LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS:

REPUBLIC ACTS:

a. RA 4136 – Land Transportation Code of the Philippines

b. RA 6539 – Anti-carnapping act of 1972 – preventing and
penalizing carnapping
c. RA 5448 – act imposing a tax on privately owned vehicles
d. RA 8749 – “Clean Air Act” regulates emission of toxic gases
both gasoline and diesel engines
 e. RA 8750 – provides for the attachment of seatbelts for all
types of motor vehicles
f. RA 7924 - act creating the MMDA, defining its powers and
functions

PRESIDENTIAL DECREES:

a. PD 96 – regulating the use of sirens, bells, horns, etc.,

prohibiting the attachment thereof except for vehicles belong to AFP,
NBI, PNP, LTO, etc.
b. PD 101 – expediting and redefining the lines and modes of
operations of PUV’s in the Philippines
c. PD 207 – declaring as part of the laws of the Philippines the
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, Signs, and Signals
d. PD 612 – requiring compulsory insurance for all types of motor
vehicles as a pre-requisite for registration by the LTO
e. PD 1686 – imposing tax on every motor vehicle equipped with
air conditioner
f. PD 1181 – providing the abatement of air pollution from motor
vehicles
g. PD 98 – regulating the issuance of license plates of all motor
vehicles (modified by PD 109)
h. PD 1729 – authorizing the Bureau of Land Transportation to
dispose impounded motor vehicles unclaimed by owners for a certain
period of time

LETTERS OF INSTRUCTION:

a. LOI 43 – providing for the removal of all impediments on

roads, streets, and highway
b. LOI 112 – prohibiting freight and cargo trucks from using
roads, highways, and bridges whose load capacities are in excess of
specific allowable limits
c. LOI 229 – requiring all motor vehicle owners, users, or
drivers to have in their possession at least one pair of early warning
device
d. LOI 551 – directing the law enforcement agencies to implement
the Pollution Control Program
e. LOI 1009 – all owners of private motor vehicles who desire to
stop operating or using their plate number and registration
certificate to surrender to BLT

OTHER SPECIAL LAWS, STATUTES:

a. MC 94-188 – issuance of driver’s license to disabled persons

b. EO 202 – creating the LTFRB
c. BP Blg. 344 – act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons

REGISTRATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES:

RA 4136 mandates that all MV’s shall be registered by its owner

before the designated District Offices of the LTO.

CLASSIFICATION OF REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES:

a. PRIVATE – (not for hire) MV’s used for the personal use of
their owner
b. PUBLIC UTILITY VEHICLES – (for hire) primarily for the
conveyance of passengers and other commercial goods
c. GOVERNMENT – MV’s owned by the government offices and are used
for official purposes only
d. DIPLOMAT – issued to foreign diplomats and consuls assigned in
the Philippines
PLATE NUMBERS:

Upon registration, MV’s are assigned with plate numbers. The

letter and numeral prefixes as well as the colors are based on the
date and place of registrations and purposes of the registered motor
vehicles.
a. GREEN with WHITE background – issued to private or not for
hire MV’s
b. BLACK with YELLOW background – issued to PUV’s
c. RED (maroon) with WHITE background – issued to government
owned MV’s
d. BLUE with WHITE background – assigned to foreign diplomats,
consuls and other foreign dignitaries
e. COMMEMORATIVE PLATE – special plate numbers are issued for
specific purposes such as fund-raising for government projects and
programs

SCHEDULE OF REGISTRATION:

Registration of MV’s should be done annually which follows the

numerical suffixes of their plate numbers.

Last Digit of Plate Middle Digit of Weekly Deadline

Number Plate Number (working days of the
month only)
1 - Jan 6 - Jun 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 – Feb 7 – Jul 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
3 – Mar 8 – Aug 7 8 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
4 – Apr 9 – Sep 9 0 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
5 – May 0 – Oct 29 30 31

NOTE: Vehicles maybe registered one month in advance of weekly

deadline. For Motorcycles, use the 3rd digit.

SPECIAL PLATE NUMBERS FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS:

1 – President of the Philippines

2 – Vice President of the Philippines
3 – Senate President, etc.

DRIVER’S LICENSE:

Driving a MV’s in the Philippines as in other countries is NOT a

right but a privilege granted by the Philippine Government through the
LTO based on RA 4136. Further, it is a privilege which maybe suspended
or revoked.

DRIVER’S LICENCE – document issued to a qualified driver who

possess the statutory qualification as provided therefore. It is a
public document which has the legal presumption of genuineness.

DUTY TO PROCURE LICENSE – Sec. 19 of RA 4136 states that no

person shall operate any MV without fist procuring a license to drive
for the current year. To be effective in the hands of its holder, it
must not be delinquent, invalid, suspended or revoked and should be
carried at all times and shall be shown or surrendered for caused when
demanded by a person authorized by RA 4136 to inspect the same.

CONFISCATION OF DRIVER’S LICENSE – Sec. 29 of RA 4136 mandates

that a driver’s license maybe confiscated for violations of RA 4136,
the rules and regulations issued by the Commissioner and of local
traffic rules and regulations.
 When a driver’s license is confiscated for any reason, the
traffic enforcer must, however, issue a receipt TOP which is good for
72 hours within which the driver may continue to operate his vehicle.
Failure to settle the case within 15 days will cause suspension or
revocation of the license.

TYPES OF LICENSES:

a. INTERNATIONAL DRIVER’S LICENSE – bona fide tourists and

transients who are duly licensed to operate MV’s intheir respective
countries maybe allowed to operate MV’s during their stay but not
beyond 90 days of their sojourn in the Philippines. (Sec. 21, RA 4136)
NOTE: Foreign license applicants can only be issued a NON-PROFEESIONAL
LICENSE.

b. MILITARY DRIVER’S LICENSE – enlisted personnel of the AFP

operating MV’s owned by the government shall be licensed in accordance
with RA 4136 but no license or delinquency fees shall be collected
thereof.

All licenses so issued shall bear the words “FOR GOVERNMENT

VEHICLES ONLY” plainly marked or stamped in red inks across the face
thereof. A Military Driver’s License does not authorize the holder to
operate a privately-owned MV. (Sec. 20, RA 4136)

c. PROFESSIONAL DRIVER’S LICENSE – issued to a driver hired or

paid for driving or operating a MV whether private use or for hire to
the public. (at least 18 yr old) It is renewable every 3 years. The
identifying color is RED. (P 265.00)

d. NON-PROFESSIONAL DRIVER’S LICENSE – issued to owners of

privately-owned MV’s or those not for hire or paid for driving. (at
least 17 yr old) (P 205.00)

The holder of Non-professional driver’s license shall be

restricted to operate MV’s up to 4500 kgs. Gross vehicle weight. It is
renewable every 3 years. The color of its logo is GREEN.

e. STUDENT DRIVER’S PERMIT – issued to persons who desire to

learn how to drive. A student driver cannot operate a vehicle unless
accompanied by an instructor who may either be a licensed professional
or non-professional driver. (Sec. 30, RA 4136) (at least 16 yr old) It
is only valid for 12 months from the date of issue. (P 75.00)

DRIVER’S EXAMINATION:
a. Written Examination – NPL 40 questions 30 passing; PL 60
questions 50 passing
b. Road Test – credited with a score of 100; passing grade 70
points or a total possible deduction of 30 points.
c. Drug Test – mandatory to all driver’s license applicants
except for student driver’s permit

DRIVERS’ RESTRICTION CODE:

1 – Motorcycles/motorized tricycles
2 – Vehicle up to 4500 kgs GVW
3 - Vehicle above 4500 kgs GVW
4 – Automatic clutch up to 4500 kgs GVW
5 - Automatic clutch above 4500 kgs GVW
6 – Articulated vehicle 1600 kgs GVW and below
7 – Articulated vehicle 1601 up to 4500 kgs GVW
8 – Articulated vehicle 4501 kgs and above GVW
 9 – Disabled

DRIVERS’ CONDITION:

A – wear eye glasses

B – drive only with special equipment for upper limbs
C – drive only with special equipment for lower limbs
D – daylight driving only
E – accompanied by a person with normal hearing

TRAFFIC SIGNS:

Refers to any device mounted on portable support whereby a

message is conveyed by means of words or symbols officially installed
for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

BRITAIN - early signposts were erected by private individuals at

their own expense.
1648 – parishes were required by law to place guideposts at
crossroads.
MOTOR CAR ACT of 1903 – made local authorities responsible for
placing certain warning and prohibitory signs.
JUNE 6, 1973 – the Philippines through PD 207 declared as part of
the laws of the Philippines the UN Vienna Convention on road traffic,
signs, markings and signals.

BASIC SIGN SHAPES:

ROUND and RED SIGN – regulates the movements of turning and

passing traffic regulation
ROUND BLACK YELLOW SIGN – warning that you are approaching a
railroad crossing
EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE RED SIGN – sign at the intersection
directing drivers to yield the right of way to vehicles in the road
being crossed
EIGHT-SIDED (OCTAGONAL) RED and WHITE STOP SIGN – most popular
and understood sign by all tongues and colors
TRIANGLE RED and BLACK SIGN – approaching a danger zone, hill,
slope, winding road, and others

CLASSIFICATION OF INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC SIGN:

a. DANGER WARNING SIGN – also known as “caution signs” These sign

have equilateral triangular shape with one side horizontal and having
red borders.
b. REGULATORY SIGNS –impose legal restrictions applicable at
particular location usually enforceable in the absence of such signs.
Usually round in shape with the exception of “Stop Signs” and “Yield
Signs”
c. INFORMATIVE SIGNS – also known as “guide signs” or “direction
signs” Rectangular shape white-colored on blue background, green
background is usually used for route markers and destination signs

TRAFFIC SIGNAL LIGHTS:

Refers to any power operated traffic control device which traffic

is warned or directed to take some specific actions. Used to control
traffic at junctions and also to stop traffic to provide safe crossing
points for pedestrians and cyclist.
 The color of traffic lights are chronologically arranged to give
motorists better view of signal lights. From top, the series of color
is Red, Yellow, and Green.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Traffic lights were first introduced on railways – the American

railroad. Their application on the road came only later. The choice of
their colors, internationally adopted, was not arbitrary. It was the
result of traditions, careful considerations and experience.

RED – for stop (it had always represented danger)Fire was red; man had
learned early to keep a safe distance from it lest he be burned. Blood
was red; to shed it brought death. It is no wonder that, therefore,
red became associated with emergency and with danger.

WHITE – for go (green was not the original choice for “go” White first
indicated that the railroad was safe and the train could proceed
without danger. “clear” “natural” “purity”

The New York, New Havens, and Hartfold Railroad, USA – was the first
to introduce traffic light in 1899.

TRAFFIC OPERATION AND ACCIDENT SCENE INVESTIGATION

DEFINITIONS:

Traffic – refers to the movement of persons, goods, or vehicle, either

powered by combustion system or animal draw, from one place to another for
the purpose of travel.

Accident – is that occurrence in a sequence of events which usually

produces unintended injury, death, or property damage.

Traffic Accident – an accident involving travel transportation on a traffic way.

Motor Vehicle Accident – is any event that results in unintended injury or

property damage attributable directly or indirectly to the action of a motor
vehicle or its load.

Motor Vehicle _ is every device which is self-propelled and every vehicle which
is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not
operated upon rails.

Traffic Way – is the entire width between boundary lines of every way or place
of which any part is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular
traffic as a matter of right or custom.

Key Event – an event on the road which characterizes the manner of

occurrence of a motor vehicle traffic accident.

Debris – is the accumulation of broken parts of vehicles rubbish, dust and

other materials left at the scene of the accident by a collision.

Skid Marks – are signs left on the roadway by tires which are not free to rotate,
usually because brakes are applied strongly and the wheels locked?
Scuff Marks – one signs left on the road by tires that are sliding or scrubbing
while the wheel is still turning.

KINDS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDETS:

1. Motor Vehicle traffic accident – is any motor vehicle accident

occurring on a traffic way. E.g. ordinary collision between
automobiles on a highway.
2. Motor Vehicle non-traffic accident – is any motor vehicle accident
which occurs entirely in any place other than a traffic way e. g.
accident on a private driveway.
3. Non-Motor vehicle traffic accident – is any accident occurring on a
traffic way involving persons using the traffic way or travel or
transportation, but not involving a motor vehicle in motion, e. g.
pedestrian and cyclist in a traffic way.

CLASSIFICATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ACCORDING

TO KEY EVENT:

Running on road ……………………………………………………… 1

Non-collision on road:
Overturning ……………………………………………………. 2
Other non-collision …………………………………………… 3
Pedestrian ………………………………………………………. 4
Other motor vehicle in traffic ……………………………….. 5
Parked Motor vehicle …………………………………………. 6
Railroad train ………………………………………………….. 7

Collision on road with:

Bicycle …………………………………………………………… 8
Animal …………………………………………………………… 9
Fixed object ……………………………………………………. 10
Other object …………………………………………………… 11

CLASSIFICATION OF ACCIDENT ACCORDING TO SEVERITY:

Property damage ………………………………………………. 1

Slight …………………………………………………………….. 2
Non-fatal : Less serious ……………………………………… 3
Serious …………………………………………………………… 4
Fatal ……………………………………………………………… 5

CHAIN OF EVENTS IN A VEHICULAR ACCIDENT:

1. Perception of hazard – is seeing, feeling, or hearing and understanding

the usual or unexpected movement or condition that could be taken as a
sign of the accident about to happen.
2. Start of evasive action – is the first action taken by traffic unit to escape
from a collision course or otherwise avoid a hazard.
3. Initial Contact – is a first accidental touching of an object collision course
or otherwise avoid a hazard.
 4. Maximum Engagement – is greatest collapse or overlap in a collision. The
force between the traffic unit and the object collided with are the greatest
at maximum engagement.
5. Disengagement – is separation of a traffic unit in motion from n object
with which it has collided. Force between the object ceases at this time.
6. Stopping – is coming to rest. It usually destabilizes the accident
situation.
7. Injury – is receiving bodily harm.

Point of no escape – is that place and time after or beyond which the
unusual or unexpected movement or condition could have been perceived by a
normal person.
Point of no escape – is that place and time after or beyond which the
accident cannot be prevented by the traffic unit under consideration.
Final position – is the place and time when object involved in an accident
finally come to rest without application of power.
Fatal accident – is any motor vehicle accident that results in fatal
injuries to one or more persons.
Non-fatal injury accident – is any motor vehicle accident that results in
injuries other than fatal to one or more person.
Property damage accident – is any motor vehicle in which there is no
injury to any person but only damage to the motor vehicle, to other motor
vehicles, or to other property including injury animals.

Reason for violation of traffic laws

1. Physical disabilities or infirmities

2. Ignorance of traffic laws
3. Lack of training and experience
4. Wrong attitude towards driving
5. Driver’s of public utility vehicles for increased compensation
6. Driver’s apathy towards signs, signals and markings
7. Influential persons violate because they feel they are exempt from
punishment.

Consideration that act as deterrents to motorists and pedestrians

1. Fear of fine or punishment

2. loss of driving privilege
3. possibility of being involved in accident
4. positive area of good citizenship doing what is right and setting an
example

FIVE (5) ESSENTIAL STEPS IN THE FORCEMENT PROCESS:

1. Detection (of violation) – wholly a police responsibility and entails locking

for defects in the behavior of motorists, pedestrians, vehicle, equipment
and roadway condition. Requires knowledge of law on the part of the
police.
2. Apprehension – wholly a police responsibility where the police is required
to take action at once to prevent continued and future violation.
3. Prosecution – while this is a court function the police also provides
corresponding influence through preparation and introduction of
evidence or close contact with the prosecuting officer.
4. Adjudication – while this is obviously a court function, the police
provides influence on this step by acting as witness to the prosecution or
 supplying additional evidence. This step determines the guilt or
innocence of the accused.
5. Penalization – the court imposes the penalty upon the accused. The
penalty is greatly influenced by previous records of conviction as
provided by police.

Three (3) Important Goals of Enforcement Activities

1. To increase safety level – enforcement effort should be directed towards

the reduction of accidents or minimizing their effects.
2. To increase traffic efficiency
3. To insure harmonious and comfortable environment.

Three (3) Major Elements of Traffic Enforcement System

1. Enforcement system – consists of legislation, police and the courts.

Legislation defines and specifies correct or incorrect road user behavior.
Police and the courts is charged with the responsibility of insuring that
these are adhered to.
2. Road-user system – includes pedestrians, pedal cyclists, drivers,
passengers and other.
3. The traffic system – consists of the entire road and vehicle complex.

KINDS OF TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT ACTION

1. arrest
2. traffic citation
3. traffic warning

Traffic arrest – is an enforcement action which consists of taking a person into

custody for the purpose of holding or detaining him to answer a charge of law
violation before a court. Arrest is made when the:

1. Offense committed is serious

2. detention is necessary to avoid continued violation
3. There is reasonable doubt that the violator will appear in court.

Traffic citation – a means of having violators appear in court without physical

arrest. Kinds of which are Traffic Citation Ticket and Temporary Operators
Permit (TCT/TOP);

Traffic warning – an enforcement action which does not contemplate possible

assessment of penalty by the court or otherwise as a result of warning alone. It
is of three types: visual, verbal, and written.

Traffic supervision – is defined as keeping informed on streets, highways within

existing regulations to make their use safe and expeditions.

Traffic control – the control of vehicles or pedestrians at a certain point or area

by mechanical means, fixed objects, or manpower.

Traffic Engineering – is the science of:

1. measuring traffic and travel;

2. The study of the basic laws relative to the traffic law and generation.
 3. The application of this knowledge to the professional practice of
[planning, deciding and operating traffic system to achieve safe and
efficient transportation of persons and goods.

Functions of Traffic Engineering:

1. fact-finding, surveys and recommendations of traffic rules and

regulations;
2. supervision and maintenance to the application of traffic control devices;
3. planning of traffic regulations.

Road Check Objectives:

The objective of road check is to detect and inspect the following:

1. faulty vehicle equipment
2. registration and licensing violation
3. intoxicated drivers
4. the load or cargo of commercial transportation vehicle for load weight.

Consideration to be taken when conducting road check:

1. minimum delay to motorist

2. thorough checking procedure
3. protection/safety of both motorists and officers
4. timing, location and frequency

5 Levels of Activity in Accident Investigation

1. reporting
2. at-scene investigation
3. technical preparation
4. professional reconstruction
5. cause analysis

Following are the technical terms which are commonly used by the
investigator in traffic accident investigation. In this type of examination you
have to match the word or group of words under Column A with the
statement under Column B. Write the number of your choice on the space
provided for the answer.

Column A Column B

1. Traffic Accident 1. 8 Any object, sign or motor

vehicle, scrub,
tree, hill or building in or
between the field
of vision of a driver so as to
alter vision.
2. Direct Cause

3. Cuve Weight 2. 14 When normal vision has been

lowered as
 a result of rain, fogs, haze, darkness
or
condition of windshield, side or rear
windows.

4. Evasive Action 3. 11 Greatest collapse or over lap in

collision.
The force between the traffic unit
and the object
Collided with are greatest.

5. Possible point of perception 4. 10 Movement into the path

assigned to
another unit.
6. Mechanical Failure
5. Accidental touching of an object
collided with
7. Direct Cause by traffic unit in motion. Before this
there is no
force between the objects colliding
afterwards
8. Visual Obstruction
9. Point of Impact

10. Encroachment
6. 16 As the place and time after or
beyond
11. Maximum Engagement which the accident cannot be
prevented by the
traffic unit under.

12. Final position 7. 4 The action taken as a result of a

3 perception
of a hazard in an effort to avoid the
accident.

13. Perception of Hazard 8. 6 Not performing as intended or

design.

14. Visual Reduction 9. 13 That time and place when

something a
Situation or a hazard, is first seen,
felt or heard

15. Initial contact 10. 5 Negligent behavior or action

precipitating
16. Point of no Escape the chain of events leading to an
accident.

17. Probable Cause

18. Skid Marks 11. 15 Refers the specific area of
vehicle initially
contacted by another object or
vehicle.
 FACTS ABOUT DNA

1. DNA – de-oxy-ri-bo-nu-cle-ie (de-ak-si-ri-bo-n(y)u-kle-ik) acid

- is a chemical substance found in all cells whose composition have

been passed on from parents to their children. All cells in the body
has the same DNA composition except individual egg and sperm
cells.

2. BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE that can be submitted for DNA analysis:

a. blood and bloodstains

b. semen and seminal stains
c. hairs with follicles or root
d. saliva or buccal swab
e. bones and organs
f. tissues and cells

3. LINE-UP OF CASES where DNA analysis can be of help:

a. sexual assault cases like rape

b. murder
c. homicide
d. robbery
e. hit and run
f. extortion
g. paternity case
h. Identification of remains from mass disaster cases and
missing persons.

4. How DNA Analysis is used to identify with accuracy the perpetrators of

crimes:
Human tissues such as hair, blood, semen are often left in places
where a crime has been committed. By carefully collecting such bits of tissues,
their owner can be identified from the DNA pattern obtained. Semen in rape
victims, hairs in kidnapper’s lairs, bloodstains in clothing associated with
murder, saliva stains in cigarette butts, stamps, envelopes associated with
extortions have all been used to help identify criminals.

5. How DNA Analysis is done:

DNA TYPING is done by first carefully extracting the DNA from the
evidentiary samples. The DNA is then analyzed to give a particular pattern. The
patterns are compared with that of a known individual to determine a match.
In individual identification, the pattern obtained from the evidentiary sample is
compared with that of a suspect. If the patterns are DIFFERENT the
evidentiary sample definitely has not originated from the suspect. If the DNA
pattern of the evidentiary sample definitely sample is SIMILAR to that of
sample obtained from the suspect, the PROBABILITY that the evidentiary
sample arose from the suspect and not from a random individual in the
population is calculated from a formula based on well-accepted concepts of
statistical probabilities and population genetics an established population
genetic database.

Probability calculations must show that no other person in the

country or in the world could possess such DNA pattern being present in the
Philippines indicate show many people are expected to possess such pattern. If
probability of pattern is 1 per 20,000, this means that there could be as many
as 3,600 (72 million/20,000) people having that pattern. Therefore, the DNA
test is INCONCLUSIVE. However, if DNA pattern has a probability of 1 per 100
million, since there are only 72 million people in the Philippines, then the
forensic sample must have come from the suspect.

ARAULLO UNIVERSITY
Phinma Education Network
CABANATUAN CITY

COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

NOTES ON TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

Compiled By: Randy M. Maure

CHAPTER – 1
History of Transportation

A. Transportation:

The history of transportation can be conveniently – If over simply –

divided into period during which motive power was most characteristically
furnished by human and animal muscles, by such natural forces as wind and
gravity, and by fuel operated machine.

Man Power:

Stone Age man’s transportation of firewood and of animals killed in the

hunt probably led to the invention of the sled, from the sled early man may
have got the idea for skis-pieces of smooth board resembling sled runners but
worn on the feet of the hunter and later of snow-shoes. The first water craft
and the canoe probably evolved from the floating log.

The greatest advance in land transportation the sled was the wheel,
probably first invented in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley some time before 3500
B.C. The ancient Egyptians took little time or on part in this invention. The
great blocks of stone that went to make the pyramids were floated in barges
down the Nile River and then moved over the land on sleds running in rollers.
Gangs of slaves dragged the blocks of stone by means of large ropes, while
other slaves at the rear of the sled pick-up the rollers over which the sled has
passed and hurried around to place them at the front. To raise the blocks of
tone to their position in the pyramids, the Egyptians build damps.
B. Animal Power:

But while human muscles power was still in widespread use for
transport in ancient Egypt, animal muscle power was being widely exploited in
the other river valley civilizations. The ox, the ass, and the camel were tamed
somewhere in the Middle East by 3000 B.C. In the arctic snows the reindeer,
which can carry a load of about 130lbs. (60kgs.) without much effort, is still
widely used. In the higher altitudes of the Himalayas the yak, a species of ox, is
used as a pack animal. In India the beast of burden is often the elephants. In
Peru, the llama is domesticated and used as a pack animal.
The horse was tamed somewhere in its native habitant on the steppes of
Central Asia. The invention of the bit and bridle before the 3000 B.C. gave the
stepped folk control of the horse for riding or driving. The stirrup was not
invented until Roman Times, probably somewhere in the Western Asia. The
earliest known stirrups have been found in South Russia in tombs dating
between 100 B.C. and 400 A.D.

Until the invention of the horse collar, about 900 A.D. horse was raised
like oxen. A yoke passed over the wishers, and a strap tightened on the horse’s
chest when it pulled, half strangling the animal. The Roman knows little of
anatomy, did not realized that what was good harness for the ox was a very
poor harness for the horses. This facts explains why the horse was little used
as a draft animal until late in the middle ages, where the ox was almost
universally used as a draft animal from 3000 B.C.

Where the horse was used for transportation during the Middle Ages, it
was mainly a pack animal, carrying loads of about 150lbs. (70kgs.) in two
panniers at its side.

Another invention that played a great part in the history of

transportation was the horseshoe. In its wild state the horses can gallop for
long distance on the soft grass of the Asiatic steppes. But if it is driven on a
hard, metal road its soft hoofs soon became broken and it goes lame. An iron
horseshoe, mailed around the edges of the hard hoofs, stops the hoop from
breaking away. It appears that the iron horseshoe was invented in Gaul about
the time of Julius Caesar, and taken to Britain soon afterward.

C. Wind Power:

Primitive man may have be hoisted crude sails of skin on his crafts or
canoes, for there is clear evidence of the migration of people over wide stretches
of ocean long before 3000 B.C. The ship of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Greece was
driven partly by a large square sail amidships and partly by cars. The war
gallery, in which a greater degree of maneuverability was needed, had narrower
lines and depended more on cars that did the training vessels.

In other part of the world the original dugout canoe developed in different
kinds of water craft. In the North Sea a ship that was sharp at both ends like a
canoe, developed whereas in Mediterranean type remained in use in some
regions a completely different type of ocean-going water craft, the outrigger
canoe, developed. In Chinese water at junk appeared.

Mediterranean were all caravel built, that is, the planks were placed side-
by-side like the boards on the floor, and the cracks between the boards and
water tight with tar. The ship of the North Sea, however, were made by
overlapping planked, or clinker built. North Sea ships has only on steering ear
placed on the steer boards or starboards quarter where as the Mediterranean
ships had two steering ears, one on side of the stern. The rudder that is, used
for steering in modern ships didn’t make its appearance until about 1200.

A great aid to sea transportation reached Europe about 1200 in the form
of the ships, compass, a device first known among Chinese sailors and then
transmitted by the Arabs. An important improvement in ship building took
place about 1450 with the development of the three mast ships. Thereafter the
story of sea transportation is largely the story of the conquest of the whole
globe by the three masts ship.

D. Road and Vehicle:

The Romans brought road building to its highest point of perfection in

ancient times. The Romans road network reached a total of about 50,000 miles
(80,000 kms.) with “Feeder” roads branching out from the main highways. The
roads were costly because Roman road engineers assumed that deep
foundations, formed by layer after a heavy stones, were necessary to make the
roads that would carry heavy traffic for many years. This theory was not
completely abandoned until John L. McAdam perfected the macadamized road
in England about 1815. Realizing that a dry native soil would support any
weight. McAdam made the surface of his road completely meter tight and
curbed so that rain would not run off them as off a roof. He did this by
rounding and rolling a layer of small stones into a hard surface. His road
remained the best that could be devised until the rubber tires of automobiles
began to tear them to pieces about the end of the last century.

Significant improvement of road vehicle began with the adoption of coach

spring about 1650. In the mid 18th century English roads were so bad that
coaches could average only about 4 mph (6 kph) and the mail was usually
carried by boys on horses. John Palmer proposed a system of fast, light
coaches with armed drivers and frequently changed horses for delivering the
mail. His first mail coach on March of 1785 and by 1800 the English mail
coach system was in full swing.

E. Canal, Railways & Steamboats

The improvement in roads, in the horses harness and in coaches had

solved the problem of fast transportation of passengers and light freight, but
these still remained the problem of heavy transportation. This problem was met
first by the development of canals and later by railroads. In 1761 the Duke of
Bridge water arranged with an engineer James Brindley to construct a canal
from his coal mines at New Castle to Man Chester, 7 miles (11 km.) away. As a
result the prime of the coal dropped by half, while still allowing the dukes
plenty of profits on his investment. Brindley success led to a boom in canal
building in England and later throughout Europe. England, in particular, was
covered by a network of canals. The first American canal, opened in 1825,
connecting Lake Eric and Hudson River at Albany.

English canal fell into decay with the coming of the railroad. William
Murdlock and Richard Trevithick had made early of locomotives before 1800.
But it was George Stephenson who pushed through the final stages of the fully
developed railway locomotive. Stephenson built his first model in 1814 for use
in hauling trucks of coal. The first railroad was the Stockton and Darlington
line, begun in 1825. The second, the Liverpool and Manchester, followed in
1829.
 At first it was to certain that the early crude locomotive should be more
satisfactory than horse. It was assumed that locomotive would not be able to
haul heavy loads up an incline, since the wheels, it was thought, would spin
without gripping the rails. This theory was later found to be false, but only
after long sections of English lines, at great cost, had been made as near
horizontal as possible.

By 1840 the English railways had put nearly all the main coaching
companies out of business, and the road ceased to be an important factor in
inland transportation until the automotive era began about 1900. In the USA
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company began work on the first American
railroad in 1826. Construction of Canada’s first railroad, the Chaplain and St.
Lawrence, begun in 1832.

The development of the steam boat preceded simultaneously with the

development of the steam locomotive. Here the steam engine was used to
impart a rotary motion to paddle wheels. The first successful steamboat
journey in the USA was made by Robert Fulton’s Claremont up the Hudson
River in 1807. By 1811 the first steamboat appeared on the Ohio River,
inaugurating the great steam boating era on the island waterways.

F. The Bicycle:

The bicycle is important in the history of transportation, not only in its

own right but because of the part of bicycle industry played as a nursery of
automobile builders. One of ancestors of the modern bicycle was the hobby
horse, or dandy horse, which could be seen on the English macadamized roads
after 1818. The wheels of these machines were made of wood, with tires of iron,
and the riders pushed themselves along with their feet on the ground. There
was a steady improvement in the bicycle throughout the 19 th Century, until the
safety bicycle, with pneumatic tires, at least appeared. Some of the earliest
automobiles ran on four bicycle wheels.

G. Automobile:

In England for sometime after 1800 it seemed that the future of

mechanical road transport lay with the stream carriage. Stream traction
engines were a familiar sight on many roads throughout the world towards the
end of the 19th Century.

The future of mechanical road transport, however, lay with the vehicle
driven by the internal combustion engine, the invention of which is usually
attributed to the Frenchmen Etienne Lenoir. By 1865, there were 400 Lenoir
gas engines in France, doing such light work as cutting chaff and driving of the
modern automobile. When we put toward the invention of the modern
automobile one of his engine in a carriage and drove around his factory. This
carriage also made a journey of some miles to Paris.

Two German inventors, Nicolaus Otto and Gottlieb Daimler, also

pioneered the manufacture of automobiles. At the same time a small army of
inventors was at work in various countries on the development of early types of
automobiles.

I. Air Transportation:
 Not until the development of the internal combustion engine and the era
of air transportation be said to have begun. Men were making balloons and
flights, however, or more than a century before Wilbur and Orville Wright made
their famous first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina USA in 1903. The
progress of air transportation was hastened by World Wars 1 and 2. An
important advances in aircraft propulsion occurred with the invention
practically every great advances in transportation technique had been a result
of the application of the principle of rotary motion. The jet engine has made
possible speed that could never had been attained by the rotary action of the
aircrew is effective only in earth’s atmosphere, and its development has opened
up the era of space exploration and interplanetary travel.

CHAPTER – 2
The Origin of the Word Traffic

The historical evolution of traffic dates back from the ancient time with
water and war as the two vital influencing factors in the development of traffic.
Admittedly, it is a long historical journey to trace the growth of traffic from
water and war. And it is too difficult to cross the thorny terrain from its origin.

The word traffic originates from a Greco-Roman word “TRAFICO” with

reference to the movement of people that dates back from the dawns of history,
from the domesticated horse drawn wheels to horseless carriage. The Greek
originally called the system “TRAFIGA” after the early horse-drawn chariots
with spoke wheels. The wheeled chariots are considered one of man’s greatest
invention of the time and becomes a vital alley to the armies of summer in
defense against the invaders of the old Mesopotamia. Just as to when the exact
birth of the word Trafiga first came to being is not known.

If savant of Rome is to be believed, there is no dispute that the word

trafigo is a Greco-Roman word, but the word traffic was crafted from the
famous “Trafalgar Square” the hub-center of commerce and culture in the
heart of London. By historical reckoning, Trafalgar Square is bathe with fame
and glory after the Britist fleet led by Lord Nelson defeated the joint French and
Spanish armada under the legendary Napoleon of Bonaforte. This Britist
victory was acclaimed as on of the greatest naval engagement in 1805 that puts
an end to French naval encroachment to the territorial water of England.

But in Latin, the word traffic is denominated as “COMMERCIUM” with

reference to the movement and control of goods in transit, from unwheeled axle
to horseless carriage. This intellectual discourse of discoveries only to reinforce
the universal dictum, that traffic refers to the movement of people and goods
and not vehicle.

Perhaps this is the missing jewels in the systematic strategist of traffic

management. One political scientist once said, “We are sometimes a willing
victim to the rule of the few, the reason we are not enjoying the best”.

The Three E’s of Traffic:

The concept of traffic which originated from Egypt even though it was
claimed by other countries. While its sophistication and the principle of the
three E’s Enforcement, Engineering and Education was developed in Rome,
there is however, no historical barrier that the original traffic philosophy began
in Egypt. The historical perspective of the 3E’s of traffic was dovetailed in
Egypt, Chiseled in Rome and upstaged in USA, by time and event. It was an
indispensable ingredient in the traffic gems, mines from years after years of
research.

Horseless Carriage:

The French invention of motorized carriage in 1898 and the American

introduction of locomotive a year later, further accelerated the development of
traffic. In the same vein, the horse-drawn calesa saw anew competition on the
road when in 1909 the first ever car arrived in Manila through one George
Richard. Thus, the era of horseless carriage began that drew raves around the
globe.

Probably, the philosophy that traffic is intrinsically born from a peculiar

blend of natural and man-made events. From the ancient time to the days of
computer, from the cradle to the grave, traffic is an inevitable fact of life.

CHAPTER – 3
Agencies Involved in the Affairs of Traffic

Traffic Management:

Is an executive function such as plan, organize, direct, supervise,

coordinate, operate, record, and budget traffic affairs. It also refers to all
agencies having tasks for ascertaining traffic flow requirements, such as
planning, approving funding, constructing and/or maintaining public facilities
for such movement. Further, it also refers to all agencies responsible for
licensing, approving, stopping, restricting, prohibiting, or controlling the use of
these facilities.

Traffic:

Refers to the movement of persons, goods and vehicles either powered by

animals or animal drawn vehicles, or by combustion system from one place to
another for the purpose of safe travel.

Though frequently applied to the movement of motor vehicles, is

concerned also with the movement of other types of vehicles, as well as
persons, goods or even messages; articles such as city planning, regional
planning, transportation emphasizes the economic, social, political importance
of the design of facilities; systems of movement.

Pillars or 5E’s of Traffic Management:

Education is the process of giving training and travel and practice in the actual
application of traffic safety knowledge.

Enforcement is the action taken by the police, such as arresting, issuing traffic
citation ticket, and giving warning to the erring drivers for the purpose of
deterring and discouraging and/or to preventing such violation.

Engineering is the science of measuring traffic and travel, the study of the
basic laws relative to the traffic flow and generation, and the application of this
knowledge to the professional practice of planning, and the operating traffic
systems to achieve safe and efficient movement of persons and goods.
Environment/Ecology is the study of dealing with potentially disastrous
population explosion, changes in urban environment due to the scale and
density of a new urban concentration and new activities carried out, air
pollution, water pollution and crowding, especially transport congestion which
result therein.

Economics is the study how people choose to use scarce or limited productive
resources to produce commodities and distribute them for their consumption.

Who is Responsible?:

1. Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)

2. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
3. Public Works and Engineering Offices
4. Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC)
5. Land Transportation Office (LTO)
6. Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB)
7. Commission of Population (POPCOM)
8. Local Governments
9. Legislations: Congress, Autonomous Assembly, Provincial City, Municipal,
Barangay Councils
10. Police Traffic Supervision
11. Education: Private and Public Schools
12. Courts
13. Public Information Agencies (PIA) - All agencies involved
14. Citizens Support Groups and Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s)

Education:

A. Schools (Public and Private)

1. Elementary Education:
a. Safety courses and guides stressing traffic safety.
b. Daily instruction stressing community priority.
c. Classroom discussion of accidents, incidents and safety rules involving
students.
d. Have students observe and discuss these in the classroom.
e. Use pictorial aids and graphic aids such as films, charts, diagrams,
slides, maps etc.
f. Organized school newspaper.
g. Promote safety through hiking, excursions, and bicycle clubs.
h. Organized pupil safety groups.
i. Organized school safety patrols.
j. School, community and parents group.

2. Secondary Education:
a. The students are now reaching the age to drive and this is the time to
develop driving habits. Initiate driver education programs.
b. Organized school safety patrol.
c. School safety organization.
d. Establish newspapers in the school systems.
e. Use pictorial and graphic aids.
f. School community and parents group.

3. Higher Education:
 a. Offer and conduct courses to private and public agencies and persons,
stressing traffic safety subjects.

B. Public Information Programs:

1. Responsibilities rest on all agencies who have any function relating to traffic.

C. Citizen Support Groups/ Non Government Organization:

1. Mobilized all groups into unified working force.

2. Develop the citizen’s responsibilities.
3. Safe legal and considerate personal conduct in traffic.
4. Support public officials in administering traffic programs.
5. Conduct organizational campaigns.
6. Awareness of accident problems.
7. Major traffic needs.
8. Acceptance of citizen’s responsibilities.

Enforcement:

Land Transportation Office (LTO): Laws, rules and regulations governing the
registration of motor vehicles, operation or motor vehicles and traffic rules and
regulations as provided for under Republic Act 4136 as amended and other
related laws.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB): To prescribed

and regulate transport routes; grant, deny, suspend or cancel land transport
franchises; prescribe and/or adjust transport fares; issue injunction in
accordance with the Rule of Court; punish for contempt; issue subpoenas;
conduct investigations and hearing on violations of public utility laws and
rules; review motu propio decisions/actions of the regional offices; promulgate
rules governing proceedings before the Board and regional offices; fix, impose
and collect fees for services rendered; formulate and enforce rules and
regulations for transport operators for the promotion, safety and convenience of
the public; coordinate with other agencies towards improvement of the
transport service; and to perform such duties and functions as may be
provided by law and those incident to the objective of Executive Order No. 125,
125-A and Executive Order No. 202 dated June 19, 1987.

Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC): Shall be the

primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing,
regulating, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the
government in the promotion, development and regulation of dependable and
coordinated networks of transportation and communication systems as well as
in the fast, safe, efficient and reliable postal, transportation & communications
services as provided for under Executive No. 125.

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA): Set the policies concerning

traffic in Metro Manila and shall coordinate and regulate the implementation of
all programs and project concerning traffic management as provided for under
Republic Act No. 7924.

Legislation: Laws and ordinances/ Congress and local councils.

Courts: Fines & penalties, compilation of all fines and penalties and furnish all
enforcement agencies with information and to news media and adjudication of
cases.

Police Traffic Supervision: Traffic direction and control, accident investigation,

traffic law enforcement and traffic accident report.

Engineering:

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH): They have the

responsibility for determining traffic flow patterns, through origin and
destination of person and things, planning, approving, funding constructions
of:
a. National roads – interconnecting cities and municipalities.
b. A network of National roads through cities and municipalities.
c. A year maintenance and repair program which includes widening and
re-designing of the present road system.

Public Work/Engineering Office: Refers to Autonomous Regions, Provincial,

Cities, Municipal and Barangay Engineering Offices which have the same
responsibilities as the DPWH in providing a network of primary roads within
their respective jurisdiction, this includes a yearly maintenance and repair
programs.

Factors to Consider in Alleviating Traffic Problems:

a. Expressway; elevated on surface (Interchanges)

b. Limited access roads (Fenced and limited intersection)
c. Boulevards (Minimum intersection and opening)
d. Primary roads.
e. Secondary roads.
f. Feeder roads.
g. Bridges (rivers and railroads)
h. Over and underpasses (Critical intersection)
i. Adequate shoulder.
j. Curbing and sidewalks.
k. Adequate drainage facilities.
l. Center linings.
l.1 Left and right turns and through lanes properly marked.
l.2 Stop bars of crosswalks and intersection.
l.3 Pedestrians crosswalks.
m. Pedestrian safety zones where needed.
n. Channelization of lanes where needed.
o. Traffic signs.
o.1 Regulatory
o.2 Warning
o.3 Mandatory
o.4 Informative
o.5 Place identification
o.6 Bus and jeep stop
p. Traffic signal lights.
p.1 Synchronization of lights where needed on main arterial routes.
p.2 Pedestrian signals.
p.3 Proper timing of signals for traffic flow.
Note: Refrain from using officers to manually operate signals.
q. Elimination of obstructions.
q.1 Squatters
q.2 Vendors
q.3 Debris and construction materials
q.4 Trash and garbage
q.5 Dwelling or constructions of any kinds
q.6 Junk cars, goods and commodities
q.7 Business places and persons from using streets for personal use
r. Off-street parking facilities.
r.1 Financed through governmental or private resources
r.2 Ordinances prohibiting construction of business places unless they
provide adequate parking for customers and employee.

Environment:

1. Commission of Population (POPCOM)

2. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
3. Local Government Agencies
4. Educational Institutions (Public and Private School)
5. Public Information Agencies (PIA)
6. All agencies responsible.
7. Citizen Support Group, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)

The above agencies involved in the affair of the 4 th pillars of traffic has
the task to enforce laws relative to increase of populations, the treat to
environment, motor vehicles and its effect on environment, pollutants, and the
law of nature, such as Presidential Decree No. 1181, Letter of Instruction No.
551 and other relative laws.

Economics:

1. All government agencies responsible

2. Banking institutions
3. Citizen Support Group, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)

The 5th pillar of traffic is not a choice of necessity but signs of the time.
What economics hope to fulfill and perhaps built to influence traffic
management is a statement of generalities that need the tools of analysis to
help predict the specific tendencies and relevance, on the effects on individual,
environment, country and traffic.

CHAPTER – 4
Education

Traffic Education is the crowning jewel of traffic management and

abstract architect of social life and unyielding master of man’s destiny on the
roadways. This call to mind Dr. Jose Rizal’s words of wisdom, “The destiny and
fate of republic depend on sound education.”

As one of the 5E’s of traffic management, it is a priceless gem in the

entire scale of social order on the road, liked to an oasis in a desert of roadway.
Therefore, traffic education must be free and there must be no economic
barrier to its acquisition.

Traffic Safety Education:

This can be carried out on the following levels:
1. Imparting knowledge concerning traffic safety.
2. Training and practice in the actual application of traffic safety.
3. Developing traffic safety morality.

Traffic Safety for Children:

Traffic safety education for children is highly unsystematic. This is

usually carried out in the home through parental education and in
kindergarten and day nurseries. It is now necessary to make this form of
systematic education to lessen the number of children fatalities and injuries.

Driver’s Education:

In general driver instruction aims primarily to teach the basics of driving.

Secondary aims are enumerated as follows:
1. To instill awareness of one’s legal and moral responsibilities in traffic.
2. To teach the abilities required for one to be eligible for a driver’s license.

Safety Campaigns:

Safety campaigns are mass publicity aimed to make road users behave
more safely. These basically focus on public information attitudes, and
particular or specific behavior or combinations of these. Road propaganda may
be intended simply to inform or it may be felt that the public is already aware
of the recommended behavior needed to be persuaded into adopting it.

Biorhythm is the theory which asserts that a man exhibits constant variation
of life, energy and mood states.

* Man’s Theorized Cycles and Interpretation Rhythm are peculiar

characteristics of most natural phenomena.

Example:
1. The diurnal exchange of light and darkness.
2. The four season.
3. Our wet and dry season.
4. The waxing and waning of moon.

* The observation of the rhythm mentioned and their possible correlation with
the habits of man has led to a host of different theorist that their to explain
this correlation in term of physical, psychological, etc. The most famous of
biorhythm are the following:
1. 23 days physical cycle.
2. 28 days emotional cycle.
3. 33 days intellectual cycle.

* The 23 day cycle is also known as our cycle of strength, endurance and
courage (the male component of a person).The 28 day cycle (equal to a girl’s 28
day menstrual cycle)is also known as our cycle of sensitivity, love and intuition
(the female component of a person). All these cycles at the time we are born.
When the curve is above the center line, the biorhythm value is said to be
“high” or a person has some more energy to spare.

Example:
 1. Physical high – we tend to be energetic, strong full of vitality.
2. Emotional high – we tend to be creative, artistic, cheerful and happy.
3. Intellectual high – we are able to think quickly and logically.

* When the curve is below the center line, the biorhythm is said to be below in
a recharged period.

Example:
1. Physical Low – we tend to tired quickly; tend to succumb to illness
easily.
2. Emotional Low – we feel moody, irritable or depressed.
3. Intellectual Low – we find concentrating or remembering difficult or we
are likely to use poor judgment when any of the curves crossed the center line,
this is called a critical day wherein our systems seems to be in state of
transition. During a critical day people tend to get sick easily, seem to lack
coordination and tend to be an accident prone.

Importance in the Field of Safety:

It should be borne in mind that biorhythm do not predict what actually

will happen. All it does is to give us a hint on how we will tend to feel on a
certain day. The theory assert that people are accident prone if their biorhythm
crosses the center line on a certain day or is totally below the line on a certain
day or is totally below the line. So theoretically, if we know our biorhythm for a
certain day, we can psychologically cope up with any situation. If we can
usually overcome any ill effect by awareness and will power. These ideas have
been put into use in different countries in the world, and the result, help
reduce accident rates until it is totally refuted.

The Legal system for Traffic Safety:

Licensing System – In the Philippines under R.A. 4136 as amended, the

administration of the issuance of driver’s license is administered by the Land
Transportation Office.

Driver’s License – is issued to the driver it is not a right but only a privilege
granted by the state to its citizen who possesses the statutory qualification as
provided therefore. This classificatory statement is made to put to rest a wrong
notion that the driver’s license is a right.

It is also a public document which has the legal presumption of

genuineness. (CCC Insurance Corp. vs. Court of Appeal, 31 SCRA 264)

Licensing Procedure – Generally, issuance of driver’s license are open to all

citizens provided that at the time of the filing of application, for student driver’s
permit the applicant must be at least 16 years of age, non-professional driver’s
license 17 years of age. Professional driver’s license 18 years of age and he
must know how to read and write, must be physically and mentally fit to drive
motor vehicle and must be clinically free from contagious diseases.

Kinds of driver’s License:

1. Student Permit – The submission by the applicant of the birth certificate, 3

copies of ID pictures, payment receipt for the corresponding fees and having
met the entire basic driver for the issuance of student permit requirements in a
condition precedent for the prospective.
 It is at this stage, where a novice driver learned the origin of driving, the
essential components of motor skill and control of vehicles. Under existing
provision of law, the life of student permit validity is 1 year, but after 4 months
and the holder’s competency is proven beyond question, he is now eligible to
apply for non-professional driver’s license.

Restrictions:
Allowed to drive only on the presence of a duly license driver. A license driver
duly accredited by the LTO, acting as instructor to the student-driver who shall
be equally responsible and liable as the latter for any violation of the provision
of R.A. 4136 as amended by B.P. Blg. 398, May 18, 1983 and for any damage
done by the motor vehicle or account or as a result of its operation by the
student-driver under his direction.

Validity: 1 year from the date of issuance

2. Non-Professional Driver’s License – There are two kinds of applicants for

non-professional driver’s license:
a. Holder of student permit for 4-5 months old, and
b. The applicant for the renewal of the expired non-professional driver’s license.

The student applicant to avail the privilege must pass the oral and
written test given by the Land Transportation Office Licensing Center. The test
includes the examination of the applicants reflexes, the reaction, vision and
other factors to determine the applicants competence. Having passed the
examination, the applicants shall be advised to undergo the practical driving
test under the supervision of the Land Transportation Office Examiner to check
his skill and control of the motor vehicle. After having successfully passed all
the examination, the applicant shall be photographed with the name and
corresponding control number, after which, a temporary driving license shall
be issued.

After the expiration of 90 days from the issuance of the temporary

driver’s license, the holder shall return to the same LTO agency for the release
of the laminated license card.

Restriction:
a. The holder is allowed to drive his own vehicle only and not to earn livelihood.
b. The type of category of vehicle authorized to be driven is indicated on the
face of license.

Validity: The license is valid for 3 years from the date issuance and renewable
every 3 birth months succeeding years and automatically expires if not
renewed on due date.

3. Professional Driver’s License – The change of status from non-professional

driver’s license does not require the holder to submit other test or
examinations. The only exception is when the holder of the professional driver’s
license is applying for renewal in which case the agency requires the applicant
to submit medical certificate.

The distinctive feature of the holder of professional driver’s license is the

privilege to make driving a means of livelihood.

Restriction:
The type or category of authorized to drive is indicated on the face of the
license.

Validity: The license is valid for 3 years from date of issuance and renewable
every 3 birth months of succeeding year and automatically expires if not
renewed on due date.

4. Military Driver’s License – This is one of the two special types of license
issued by the agency for limited and special purpose.

While the issuance is made by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
however, the holder has to pass all the test and examination in compliance
with the rules and regulation thereof.

Restriction:
The holder must be military personnel and authorized to drive a military
vehicle only.

Validity: The license is valid for 3 years from the date of issuance and
renewable every birth month of succeeding year and automatically expires if
not renewed on due date.

5. International Driver’s License – This is the second special type of license

issued for special purpose and issued by the Philippine Motor Association
(PMA). In other countries like the Philippines, it is mandatory that the
applicant must be a holder of domestic license, a sine-quanon before the
issuance of International Driver’s License.
This kind of license is also issued to foreigner or tourist driver’s license
who desire to drive after the period of 90 days stay or sojourn, provided the
applicant comply with the basic requirement for licensing.

Restriction:
A citizen holder of this kind of license is not authorized to drive in the roadway
unless he carries with him the valid local driver’s license.

Validity: this license is valid as indicated therefore and recognized in countries

signatories to the Geneva Convention.

Driver’s License Restriction Code:

* A driver holding a driver’s license with Restriction Code No. 1 is limited to a

motorcycle.

In general the use of the term “VEHICLE” in RC 2 and 3 refers to any

motor vehicle regardless of the transmission whether conventional or
automatic. On the other hand, the use of the term “AUTOMATIC CLUTCH” in
RC 4 and 5 means that the licensee is limited to drive a vehicle with automatic
clutch or transmission only. Restriction codes are further categorized according
to the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of the vehicle as indicated in the following:

* A driver holding a driver’s license with Restriction Code No. 2 is authorized to

drive a conventional motor vehicle with Gross Weight (GVW) of up to 4500 kg.
He is authorized to drive a motor vehicle with automatic transmission (clutch)
with the same weight.
* Similarly, a driver holding a driver’s license with Restriction Code No. 3 is
authorized to drive a conventional motor vehicle with GVW above 4500 kg. and
is authorized to drive a motor vehicle with automatic transmission (clutch) with
the same GVW.

* A driver holding a driver’s license with Restriction Code No. 4 is only

authorized to drive a motor vehicle with automatic transmission with GVW of
up to 4500 kg. He is in violation of the rules if he drives a motor vehicle whose
transmission is conventional with the same GVW, and

* Similarly, the authority of a driver holding a driver’s license with Restriction

Code No. 5 is limited to a motor vehicle with automatic transmission (clutch)
with GVW above 4500 kg. He is not allowed to drive a conventional motor
vehicle with the same GVW. (LTO Memorandum dated 23 February, 1998)

Lost Driver’s License:

In case the license has been lost or cannot be produced, the licensee
shall apply for a duplicate of the original on file with the LTO by filing a sworn
statement that such license has been lost and that a thorough and diligent
search was useless.

Driver’s Duties:

The Driver – any licensed operator of a motor vehicle. Sec. 3(d), R.A. 4136 as
amended. Thus, no person shall operate any motor vehicle without first
procuring a license to drive a motor vehicle for the current year, nor while such
license is delinquent, invalid, suspended or revoke. The license shall be carried
by the driver at all times when operating a motor vehicle, and shall be shown
and/or surrendered for cause and upon demand to any person with authority
under Sec. 19, R.A. 4136 as amended.

Duty of the Driver in Case of accident – In the event that an any accident
should occur as a result of the operation of a motor vehicle upon a highway,
the driver shall stop immediately, and if requested by any person present, shall
show his driver’s license, give his true name and address and also the true
name and address of the owner of the motor vehicle.

No driver of a motor vehicle concerned in a vehicular accident shall leave

the scene of the accident without aiding the victim, except under any of the
following circumstances:
1. If he is in imminent danger of being seriously harmed by any person/s by
reason of the accident.
2. If he reports the accident to the nearest officer of the law; and
3. If he has to summon a physician or nurse to aid the victim. Sec. 55, R.A.
4136 as amended.

The Conductor – As mandated by law, the conductor must pass the statutory
qualification before a license is issued in his favor, a condition precedent to his
employment. He shall be exclusively held liable if he allow more passengers or
more freight or cargo in his public utility trucks or buses. Sec. 32, R.A. 4136 as
amended.

The Ten Commandments of Traffic:

 Many motorists seem to be taking the basic traffic principle for granted.
And they do so, cruelty reigns on the road, causing monstrous traffic jams.
These sets of rules are to remind constantly our motorists so they will do their
share in keeping our traffic orderly.

1. Keep Right – The driver of a motor vehicle shall always drive his motor
vehicle to the right except when overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the
same direction and shall pass at a safe distance to the left thereof, except that,
on a highway, within a business or residential district, having two or more
lanes for the movement of traffic in one direction, the driver of a vehicle may
overtake and pass another vehicle on the right. Sec. 39, RA 4136 as amended.

On highway having two or more lanes for the movement of traffic in one
direction the driver of a slow moving vehicle shall drive to the right, while the
driver of a fast moving motor vehicle to the left.

In cases of an incoming emergency motor vehicle, the non-emergency

vehicle shall immediately drive to the right to enable the former to overtake the
latter.

2. Observe Road Courtesy – One must yield to emergency vehicles, pedestrians,

trains, vehicles with right of way, vehicles ahead, large vehicles, uphill traffic,
traffic with momentum, straight traffic, and traffic signs.

By emergency vehicle, the LTO refers to:

 Vehicles with physicians on emergency call.
 An ambulance of emergency call.
 Vehicle with wounded or sick person for emergency treatment.
 AFP/PNP vehicles on official time in use of riot, insurrection, rebellion
or invasion.
 Vehicles in pursuit of a criminal including a law enforcer overtaking of
pursuing traffic violence.
 A police or fire department vehicle on call.

The Right of Way Rule:

Right of way – means the right to proceed ahead of another vehicle or

pedestrian. Note: A high percentage of all collision occurs at intersection. Many
of these maybe attributed to the driver’s uncertainty or failure to observe the
rules of the right of way.

Intersection. – When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection at

approximately the same time, the driver on the left shall yield the right of way
to the vehicle on the right, except as otherwise herein after provided. The driver
of any vehicle traveling at any unlawful speed shall forfeit any right of way
which he might otherwise have hereunder. Sec. 42(a), RA 4136 as amended.

Pedestrian. – The driver of any vehicle upon a highway within business

or residential district shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing such
highway within crosswalk, except at the intersection where the movement of
traffic is being regulated by a peace officer or by traffic signal. Every pedestrian
crossing a highway within a business or residential district, at any point other
than a crosswalk, shall yield the right of way to vehicles upon the highway.
Sec. 42(c), RA 4136 as amended.
 Through Highway or Railroad Crossing. – The driver of the vehicle upon a
highway shall bring to a full stop such vehicle before traversing any “through
highway” or Railroad crossing. Provided, then when it is apparent that no
hazard exists, the vehicle maybe slowed down to five miles per hour instead of
bringing it to full stop. Sec. 42 (d), RA 4136 as amended.

Police and Other Emergency Vehicle. – The driver of a vehicle upon a

highway shall yield the right of way to police or fire department vehicles and
ambulance giving audible signal, the driver of every other vehicle shall
immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel to the
right hand edge or curb of the highway, clear of any intersection of highway
and shall stop and remain in such position, unless otherwise directed by a
peace officer, until such vehicle shall have passed. Sec. 49, RA 4136 as
amended.

While the driver officially operating a motor vehicle of any fire

department is exempted to speed restriction, however, it shall not be construed
to allow useless or unnecessary fast driving of drivers. Sec. 35 (c) (7), RA 4136
as amended.

From Private Road to Highway. – A vehicle from a private road must yield
to that on a highway and a vehicle from a street/highway must yield to one on
a “through street/highway”. Sec. 43 (a), RA 4136 as amended.

3. Prohibited Parking – Vehicles should no be parked near or within

intersection, on crosswalk or pedestrian lane; within 6 meters of the
intersection of curb lines; within 4 meters of the drive way entrance of any fire
station, hospitals, clinic and others; within 4 meters of a fire hydrant; in front
of a private driveway; double parking or on the road side of any vehicle stopped
or parked; on the sidewalks, path or alleys not intended for parking; at the foot
of the bridge; at any place where official signs are posted prohibiting parking or
to be declared “NO PARKING” zone.

4. If Doubt, Do Not Overtake – In general, the overtaking lane is the lane to the
left of the overtaken vehicle going in the same direction, the overtaken vehicle
is the burden vehicle.

Before overtaking, consider these reminders.

1. Signal the intention.
2. See to it that the overtaking lane is clearly visible and free of oncoming
traffic for a sufficient distance ahead so that overtaking can be made safely.
3. And then maneuver at own risk to over take and pass the other vehicle
safely at a distance to the side of the overtaken vehicle when a lane is clear.

 The vehicle being overtaken is the privilege vehicle. The driver keeps
his lane, reduces of maintain speed, and allows the overtaking vehicle
to pass.
 He shall not increase the speed until completely passed by the
overtaking vehicle.
 In an undivided two way two-lane roadway, the overtaking vehicles
passes at a safe distance to the left of the overtaken vehicle and shall
not again drive to the right side of the highway until safely clear of the
over taken vehicle.
 In an expressway with a fast and slow lane or in any divided roadway,
a driver may overtake on either lane.
  The vehicle being overtaken running at regulations speed on his lane
is the privilege vehicle. The driver keeps his lanes reduce or maintain
speed, and allows overtaken vehicle to pass.
 The overtaking vehicle is the burden vehicle. The driver signals his
intention, maneuvers at his own risk overtake, and passes the other
vehicle safely when a lane is clear.
 Overtaking is prohibited at peak of a grade, curve, railway, crossing,
and between construction and caution.

5. The Bus-stop Rule – Buses line up in a single file in their order of arrival.
The lead bus moves forward to center of the column of buses lining up on the
bus stop zone, and may remain until the zone is filled up with buses, but not
hang on than three minutes. Any bus has the option to move out of the area
anytime or bypass a bus stop. There shall be no doubling up at any point in
the bus stop zone.

6. Rules to Prevent or Untangle Traffic Jams – Keep opposing lanes and

i9nterscetion open. In heavy, slow or stopped traffic, there shall be no
overtaking. In construction, the vehicles should merge alternately.

7. Observe the Traffic Management Measures – Like the bus yellow lane, bus
stop segregation scheme, truck ban, counter flow reversible lane, one way, car
pool, odd-even scheme and restraints on turning.

8. The Philosophy of a Pinoy Driver – Motorists should observe equity of the

lead vehicle, doctrine of the last clear chance, and the first come first served or
Rotonda rule.

9. On Pedestrian – Keep off road way except to cross on crosswalk. Wait,

embark, and alight at bus or jeep stop.

10. Remember the International Driving safety Reminder – Safety first.

Chapter – 5
Enforcement

Traffic Law Enforcement Theory:

Order in any society is already dependent upon the uniformity of the

behavior by its members. Traffic laws are an attempt to provide specifications
for conventional behavior on the highway. The rules for conventional driving
behavior were developed mostly from experience over the years. Those which
have survived the test of time are basis for our present laws and ordinances.
The first laws concerning driving behavior resulted from custom and common
usage. When automobiles first appeared on the highway it become necessary to
establish certain rules as to how individual drivers should use the highway.
Since most conflict occur because two vehicles attempt to occupy the same
space at the same time is not surprising that most early traffic laws are
concerned with specifying who had the immediate right to use the road. As
motor vehicles become more numerous, highway system become more
extensive and people learned more about the problem involved in driving,
additional laws were developed to define safe driving behavior in general.

Traffic laws, like other laws, reflect the belief, behavior, and standard
agreed on by society. They do not relate to behavior which is necessarily bad in
itself, as are laws against theft, assault, and indecency. They exist in order to
identify and encourage behavior in accord with accepted pattern, and to deal
with those who will not conform and who thus aggravate the hazards of traffic
movement.

Increased volumes and speeds of traffic have made necessary an

increased refinement in rules of behavior. Traffic laws, in defining conventional
behavior for all possible situations become more complex. They are not always
interpreted and applied in a uniform manner and are not self-enforcing. What
is officially acceptable driving behavior at a given time depends upon:

1. The words in the law book which state explicitly the kind of behavior
to be followed.
2. Judicial interpretation of how the laws are to be applied.
3. Administrative interpretation of how the laws are to be applied usually
reflected by policies, tolerance and assignments of enforcement personnel.
4. How the individual officer feels about driving behavior which occurs in
his presence.

The law therefore is one of the characterizing symptoms of our

civilization, and the quality of the law tends to reflect the quality of civilization
which produces it. At its best, it tends to make it possible for civilized people to
live together in peace and happiness. In this connection, one of the major
purpose of the law is the restraint of those persons and the prevention of those
acts which tend to obstruct and limit the peace and happiness of society. Since
the ends of the law are the promotion of justice and the protection of welfare, it
must serve no master.

The law becomes ridicule when it is reduced to the service of special

privilege. A citizen charged with a minor traffic offense sometimes exhausts
every means to have his case disposed of other than established procedures.
Such activity is destructive of enforcement and corrosive of the law, weakening
the foundations of society and its government.

Under these considerations, the purpose of traffic law enforcement, like

that of the general law enforcement, is to off-set the selfish motivation and to
condition community habits through conditioning habits of individual. It is a
basic requirement in the orderly economic and social development of street and
highway transportation. Traffic law, like anybody law, is sterile unless it is
inherently sound and supported by effective enforcement machinery.

Since it affects human conduct directly, traffic law enforcement,

whenever adequate to the problem in both quantity and quality, produces
substantial and meaningful results. When such productive enforcement is
contained over a period of years, community habits are improve to the extent
that less enforcement is necessary to maintain the more orderly and safer
conditions thus produce.

Enforcement Theory:

Traffic Law Enforcement – is the action taken by the police and the court to
compel obedience to traffic laws and ordinances regulating the use and
movement of motor vehicles for the purpose of creating a deterrent to unlawful
behavior by all potential violators.
 It is also applies to statutes, ordinances and legally authorized
regulations relating to use of streets and highway and ownership and operation
of motor vehicles.

Enforcement of Traffic Legislation – is the area of activity aimed to controlling

road user behavior by preventive, persuasive and punitive methods in order to
effect the safe and efficient movement of traffic.

The Traffic Law Enforcer:

A person who is duly deputized by an agency of government authorized

by law to enforce traffic laws, rules and regulations. He is a man of few words.
The most visible symbol of lawman at its best, the man for all seasons: whether
fair or foul weather. The man who is often brutalized, whether he is the honest,
the brightest of the best.

Functions of Traffic Enforcement:

Police Traffic Law Enforcement – The part of traffic enforcement performed by

the police and other agencies with police power including deterrent to law
violation created by the presence of uniformed police officer and their special
equipment, special assistance to court and prosecutors and incidental service
to highway users.

Court Traffic Law Enforcement – The part of traffic law enforcement performed
by the court by adjudication and penalization.

Essential Steps in Police Court Enforcement Process:

1. Detection – wholly police responsibility and entail looking for defects in the
behavior of motorist, pedestrians, vehicles equipment and roadway condition.
Requires knowledge on law on the part of the police.
2. Apprehension – wholly a police responsibility where the police is required to
take action at once to prevent continued and future violation.
3. Prosecution – While this is a court function, the police also provides
corresponding influence through preparation and introduction of evidence or
close contact with the prosecution officer.
4. Adjudication – While is obviously a court function, the police provides
influence on this step by acting as a witness to the prosecution or supplying
additional evidence. This step determines the guilt or innocence of the accused.
5. Penalization – The court imposes the penalty upon the accused. The penalty
is greatly influenced by previous records of conviction as provided by the
police.

Goals of Enforcement Activities:

 To increase safety level.

 T increase traffic efficiency.
 To ensure harmonious and comfortable environment. Conflict of
interests in the achievement of these goals sometimes resulted to:
 Attempt to maximized safety sometimes reduces efficiency.
 Maximization of efficiency sometimes detracts from safety. Therefore,
in the design and implementation of any enforcement program, the
ideal situation would be to have a clear concise and detailed
statement of objective and how they might be achieved.
Objectives of Traffic Enforcement:

1. Preventive Activities – such as preventive patrols, directing, supervising

traffic, investigating accidents and eliminating road hazards.
2. Persuasive Activities – such as oral, written warning or visible patrols.
3. Punitive Activities – normally dealt with by the courts, police or traffic
authorities.

Traffic Enforcement System:

The enforcement to traffic law is a complex procedure. There are areas

many methods or enforcement and various methods of testing their effects. The
“MAJOR ELEMENTS” in the traffic enforcement system are:

1. Enforcement System – consist of the legislation, police, court and penalties.

Legislation defines and specifies correct (or incorrect) road user behavior. The
police, court and to a lesser extent traffic authorities are charged with the
responsibility of ensuring that these laws are adhered to. Preventive persuasive
and punitive techniques are used to induce compliance with legislation.
2. Road Users – include pedestrians, pedal cyclist, drivers and passengers. The
road users system can be defined in term of knowledge, skill, attitude and
characteristics, such as age, sex health, road experience, etc. These factors
affect road user behavior which is controlled favorably by the enforcement
system.

3. Traffic System – consist of the entire road and vehicle complex. The road
user exhibits certain behavioral patterns which lead to inefficiencies in the
traffic system. These inefficiencies can be measured in term of congested flow
and accidents.

Traffic Laws and the Role of Enforcement:

Enforcement is a complex activity because it deals directly with human

behavior. It is concerned with people, attitudes, habits, personality and
motives. In order to deal with law violations effectively, it is necessary to
understand something about the following:

What traffic laws are? – All traffic law enforcement is based on the traffic laws:

1. The first laws concerning driving behavior which were develop mostly from
experience over the years resulted from custom and common usage.
2. Traffic laws, like all other laws, reflect the beliefs, behavior and standard
agreed on by society.
3. Traffic law violation is classified into two (2) groups:

a. Hazardous traffic law violation – any violation of any law, ordinance, or

regulation affecting the use or protection of the streets and highways enacted
primarily to regulate the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. There are
two general kinds of hazardous violations:
a.1. Unsafe behavior – which is an action omission which is
hazardous even when vehicles, streets or people involved are in compliance
with legal provisions; and
a.2. Unsafe condition – which is causing or permitting an illegal
or possibly hazardous conditions of a driver, street or highways, and
vehicles used in traffic.
 b. Other traffic law violations – are violations of any law, ordinance or
regulation affecting the use and protection of street or highways but which are
not enacted primarily to regulate safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

Why People Violate Traffic Laws:

The reason are varied and complex. Some of these are:

1. Physical disabilities and infirmities.
2. Ignorance of laws, rules and regulations.
3. Mental disorder.
4. Lack of training and experience.
5. Wrong attitude towards driving, risk taking, enforcement and traffic
laws.
6. Habitual traffic violators.
7. Driver’s of public utility vehicles for increase compensation and
commission.

Consideration Which Act as Deterrent to Motorist and Pedestrian:

1. Fear of fine and punishment.

2. Loss of driving privilege.
3. Possibility of being involved in accident.
4. Positive area of good citizenship, doing what is right and setting an
example.

Causes of Human Behavior:

Can be classified into two general categories:

1. Positive motives – induces a person to seek something for the satisfaction it
will or it expect to provide. i.e. Strong desire to drive faster than condition
would dictate as safe.
2. Negative motives – causes people to avoid action they know or believe will
have unpleasant consequences. i.e. Strong fear of becoming involve in an
accident or being arrested for violating the law.
If conflicting motives exist, people tend to rely on the stronger force and
sometimes take illegal behavior like driving faster than the law requires.

Enforcement is directed toward those situations in which the driver’s

positive desires are in conflict with conventional behavior prescribed by law
developing negative or avoidance action on the part of the drivers.

The principal power of enforcement is the power to punish or to make a

forbidden act unpleasant. If enforcement is frequent and a penalty is certain
this procedures a strong negative response to committing certain acts. If the
negative implications developed through enforcement are strong enough they
will resolve conflicts concerning prohibited action by making the anticipation of
unpleasantness outweigh temporary desires to have illegally.

Enforcement Creates These Feeling or beliefs in Drivers in Two ways:

1. Observation Effect – If a driver sees a police officer or identifiable police

vehicle, he is reminded that he must obey the law or suffer the consequences.
Few drivers violate traffic laws when they are in the presence of police officer.
The Officer is a symbol of authority that inhibits certain types of driving
behavior. While he is present the risk of being apprehended and penalized for
violating is high. How long this effect will last after the officer leaves the
immediate vicinity depends upon the strengths of the symbol of enforcement
authority and frequency with which the driver sees such symbol. The strength
of the authority symbol is determined principally by what enforcement officers
do. If they take action each time a violation and dangerous driving practice is
observed, the deterrent effect of seeing an officer tends to be high or more
lasting. If action is in frequent the deterrent effect is low and short lived. The
frequency of observation depends of course on how many police officers are
available.

2. By Reputation – The long range effect of enforcement programs in a

community creates general beliefs concerning police and enforcement which do
not depend directly upon seeing a police officer. If enforcement is steady and
active over a long period of time drivers develop the feeling that their risk of
being apprehended at any time is high. If the estimate of risk is high drivers do
not take the chance of being caught frequently. As a result, long term changes
in driving habits of the community gradually begin to take place. It is the
“influence by reputation” that enforcement strives to attain. It is usually these
long range effects which lead to permanent improvements in the driving habits
of the community.

Police Traffic Enforcement Action:

The part of the police traffic law enforcement involving arrest, citation or
warning of any person believed to have violated a law, ordinance or rules and
regulations pertaining to the use of traffic ways, when the person has
knowledge of this action and it is to:
1. Prevent such violation from endangering person or property or
inconveniencing other user of the traffic way.
2. Prevent continued violation.
3. Discourage future violation.

Kinds of Enforcement Actions:

1. Traffic Arrest – is an enforcement action which consist of taking a person

into custody for the purpose of holding or detaining him to answer a charge of
law violation before a court. Arrest is made when the;
a. Offense committed is serious.
b. Detection is necessary to avoid continued violation.
c. There is reasonable doubt that the violator will not appear in court.

2. Traffic Citation – is made of having violator appear in court without physical

arrest. The issuance of citation is the most common enforcement action by the
police. His is an efficient system since majority of violators with minor offenses
are punish promptly by paying their fine at an administrative body with court
appearance. Or any traffic enforcement action contemplates trial adjudication
or disposition to determine the guilt or innocence of a person charged for a
violation when the individual record of which is kept by the police or some
other official agency for future reference.

3. Traffic Warning – is an enforcement action which does not contemplate

possible assessment of penalty by the court or otherwise as a result of warning
alone. The three kinds of warning are:

a. Visual Warning – are usually used when you have observed a minor
violation but are importantly occupied at a moment. You indicate by gesture of
the hand, and of the head, a toot of the horn that you are aware of the
violation. Such action reminds the violators that he has committed the
violation and that the police are observant.

b. Verbal Warning – are really a form of safety education. You tell the
violator that he has violated the law and explain the hazards of such actions.
They are frequently used when there is a new enforcement program going into
effect and the preliminary phase calls for a period of public education.

c. Written Warning – are combination of verbal warning and citations.

They gave the spirit of the verbal warning and the verbal warning and the form
of citations. Because it is written and resembles a citation the written warning
has more noticeable deterrent effect than a verbal warning. There is a no
immediate penalty attached and it allows the violator an opportunity to profit
by his error putting an emphasis on education rather than discipline.

Traffic Patrol:

That part of police traffic supervision which consist of driving and

walking here and there in an area or to and from on a road for the purpose of
traffic law enforcement and to provide traffic connected service to the public.

Objectives of Traffic Patrol:

1. Deterring violation and dangerous driving.

2. Detecting and apprehending violators.
3. Observing and reporting of traffic condition.
4. Observing and reporting road condition.
5. Providing certain services to the public handling emergencies and
keeping traffic.

Types of Traffic Patrol:

1. Line Patrol – is a moving patrol or a stationary observation on a specified

road between two points usually on one city street or a section of a highway.

2. Area Patrol – traffic patrol or stationary patrol observation in an area or beat

which includes a number of streets, roads or a sections on a highway.

Traffic Observation:

1. Stationary Traffic Observation – it is a traffic observation at a selected place,

usually one with an unfavorable accident experience or traffic flow problem, for
traffic law enforcement purposes and to detect violations of to deter possible
violators.

2. Conspicuous Traffic Observation – it is a stationary observation in which the

observer tries to attract attention by keeping in full view of traffic.

3. Visible Traffic Observation – it is a stationary in which the observer is in full

view but located, for example, on a side street, as to require effort on the part of
traffic to discover the observer.

4. Conceal Traffic Observation – it is a stationary observation in which the

observer is not visible to persons using ordinary powers of observation from the
road way being observed.
Pursuit in Traffic Enforcement:

1. Decision type and seriousness of violation is an important factor to

pursuit.
2. Pursuit techniques.
3. Safety driving pursuit.

Stopping and Approaching Traffic Violator:

1. Stopping a violator must be done with consideration to your safety,

the driver you stopped, to other drivers and pedestrians.
2. Approach the violator preferably on the left side from the rear and be
alert for the unexpected.

Traffic Road Check:

1. Objectives: to detect or inspect the following:

a. Faulty vehicle equipment.
b. Registration and licensing violation.
c. Intoxication or cargo of commercial or transportation for load weight.

2. Types of traffic road check:

a. Faulty vehicle equipment.
b. Officer directed road check.

3. Consideration during road check:

a. Minimum delay to motorist.
b. Thorough checking procedure.
c. Protecting and safety of both motorist and officer.
d. Timing, location and frequency.

Officer-Violator Relationship:

1. Two objectives in dealing with violator:

a. Immediate objectives – is enforcement action against the driver.
b. Ultimate objectives – is to change his future driving behavior.

An officer seldom gets complaints on the violation but usually on the

manner in which he treated the violator.

2. Important points to remember:

a. Violators are vastly different one from each other.
b. There are many conflicts in a violator as there are in an officer.
c. You are professional officer. There are no professional violators.
d. Be alert for the unexpected.

Traffic Supervision, Direction and Control:

Traffic Supervision – Keeping order on the street and highway within existing
regulations to make their use safe and expeditious.

The following are definitely police work:

a. Traffic accident investigation.
b. Less serious traffic law offenses.
c. Serious traffic law offenses.
All men on the department should be trained to direct traffic at the following:
a. Accident scene.
b. Other emergencies.
c. Planned special events.
d. Regular point and interrogation control.
e. Directing pedestrian’s movement.

Supervised Route – Any street or highway on which traffic is supervised to

some considerable degree.

Police Traffic Direction – That part of police traffic supervision that involves
telling drivers and pedestrians how and where they may or may not move or
stand at a particular place, especially during periods of congestion or
emergencies; it generally involves all police activity which is necessary to insure
the smooth and orderly flow of traffic.

Point/Area Traffic Control – That part of police direction which is concerned

with the control of vehicular and pedestrian movement at a particular area or
point on the street or highway, such as an intersection.

Police Traffic Escort – That part of police traffic direction that involves mobile
supervision of the movement of one or more traffic units from one point to
another; this may include directing the movement of surrounding vehicles and
pedestrians by means audible and visible signals in such a manner as to
permit free and safe movement of the vehicle/s being escort.

Traffic Direction and Control – An activity of a traffic by which the movement of

traffic units at a particular intersection are controlled and allocated according
to proportionate time to prevent traffic accident and to maintain the smooth
flow of traffic.

Signaling:

1. Use hand signal to designate your decision to the motorists

2. Signal must be uniform and understood by motorist and pedestrians
3. Must be clear and positive
4. Do not give them verbally
5. Be alert and stand erect on both feet
6. Look at the person to whom you are signaling
7. The arm signals should be shoulder high and a full circular motion of the
arm for (GO)
8. Supplement the arm signal with whistle
9. Stand sideways to incoming traffic while stopping vehicular traffic
10. Let your hands hang at side when not using them.
11. Constant waving of hands is confusing and served to distract/slow down
traffic
12. When changing phases (Execute left face etc.) maintain a 90 degrees turn
of the body
13. If turns are permitted describe the movement to be made with an arc of the
man
14. To stop a moving lane, point at the car you intent to stop and give him the
opportunity to stop
15. The hand signal should be with the arm extended and the palm facing the
person to be stop
Whistle Signals:

1. One long blast for STOP

2. Two short snappy blasts for GO
3. Three blasts to be used for assistance and/or for motorist to be attentive.

Technique in Traffic Direction and Control:

1. Keep intersection open.

2.

CHAPTER – 6
Engineering

Forecasting of future traffic demand and evaluating the magnitude of

street hazards through traffic engineering is not simple as measuring the
height, length and width of the cube. Traffic engineering must know all, foresee
all and forestall all effects whether natural or man-made calamities. A formula
that will dance to the tune of new technology, new horizon and new vistas to
open the floodgates of traffic engineering in contemporary times.

Function of Traffic Engineering

1. Fact finding survey and recommendation of traffic rules and regulations.

2. Supervising and maintenance to the application of traffic control devices.
3. Planning if traffic regulations.

Objective of T-Engineering:

1. To achieve efficient, free and rapid flow of traffic.

2. To prevent traffic accident.
3. To prevent the role of traffic engineering in reducing the needs for police
action and simplifying police performance.
4. To show that good police action and performance makes engineering plans
effective.
5. To present the close relationship of the pillars of traffic in the improvement
of traffic problems.

Application of the Objectives of Traffic Engineering:

1. Habitually congested commercial areas.

2. Heavily traveled thorough fares.
3. Congested local areas and intersection.
4. Special occasions of events.
5. Disasters or emergencies.
6. School crossing.

Methods in Achieving the Objectives of T-Engineering:

1. Planning and geometric design factor employed in planning.

a. Composition of traffic streams
b. Traffic volumes for capacity
c. Origin and destination

2. Factors influencing design.

a. Composition of traffic
b. Volume of traffic
c. Speed of vehicles
d. The starting, turning and stopping abilities of traffic
e. Performance values

3. Regulation and control traffic regulation.

a. Base and confined within the boundaries of safety, public welfare and
convenience.
b. Limitations impose on road users and their load
c. Basic general rule of the road use and conduct
c.1 Speed
c.2 Overtaking and passing
c.3 Right of way
c.4 Lateral placement
c.5 Pedestrian right and duties
c.6 General parking rules and regulations
d. Prohibited and restrictions.
d.1 One way regulation
d.2 Speed control
d.3 Curb parking
d.4 Turning regulation
d.5 Stop rule and others

Traffic Control Devices:

1. Elementary requirements:
a. They should compel attention.
b. They should convey a simple, closer meaning at a glance.
c. They should allow time for response.
d. They should command respect.

2. Fundamental traits:
a. Design and outward aspect of the device.
b. Position or placement with respect to the normal line of vision of road users.
c. Maintenance of the condition appearance and visibility.

3. Types of traffic control devices:

a. Traffic or road sign – A sign usually made of a metal plate in a conspicuous
location beside a road. It has a specific shape and design and usually an
illustration or words for the purpose of informing road users of applicable road
conditions and instructions.

b. Pavement or road markings – Means any traffic control device marked on the
surface of the road or carriageway used to regulate traffic or to warn or guide
road users. They are used either alone or in conjunction with other signs or
signals to emphasize or classify their meaning.

c. Traffic light or traffic signals – An electrical device usually located on highly

traveled city intersection designed to regulate the flow of traffic by either
manually or automatically apportioning intervals for traffic in specific
directions to flow and stop.

d. Traffic island – Means any physical structure (other than lines marked on a
thorough fare) made at or near an intersection to guide vehicles.

Functional Classification of Traffic Control Devices:

1. Regulatory devices – have the authority of law and impose precise
requirement upon the action of the road user.

2. Warning devices – are used to inform the road user of potentially hazardous
roadway conditions or unusual traffic movements which are not readily
apparent to passing traffic.

3. Guiding devices – are employed simply to inform the road user of route,
destination, and other pertinent information.

Advantages of Signal Installation:

1. Make for orderly movement of traffic.

2. Reduces frequency of certain type of accident.
3. Provide a means of interpreting heavy traffic.
4. Economy over manual control at intersection.
5. Coordinated to provide for a continuous flow of traffic at definite speed along
a give route.
6. Increase traffic handling capacity of intersection.

Disadvantages of Traffic Installation:

1. Increase total intersection delay. (Off-peak period)

2. Probable increase of accident in certain types.
3. Cause unnecessary delay. (Rear-end collision)
4. Use of less adequate routes maybe included in an attempt to avoid such
signals.

Primary Aims of Signal Control:

1. To reduce traffic conflicts and delay.

2. To reduce accidents.
3. To economize police time.

Classes of Traffic Signs:

A. Danger Warning Signs – These signs are intended to warn road users of a
danger that lies ahead and of its nature.

B. Regulatory Signs – These are signs intended to warn road users of special
obligations, restrictions or prohibitions with which they must comply. They are
subdivided into:

1. Priority Signs – These are intended to regulate priority over a particular

road section of roadway intersection.

2. Prohibitory Signs – These signs can be used on specified section if the

road which will be easily seen by motorist to indicate regulation which is
prohibitive or restrictive in nature.

3. Mandatory Signs – These signs are intended to notify the road users of
special rules in which they must comply for the safety convenience and smooth
flow of traffic.
C. Informative Signs – These signs are intended to guide road users while
traveling and are subdivided into:

1. Advance Signs – These are the names and distances of the principal
destination served by the intersecting roads.

2. Direction Signs – Unlike the advance direction signs, direction sign

shall be placed at the right of intersections to show the direction and
destination of route. Direction signs are different from mandatory signs since
these signs gave only information as to the direction and destination of a place
while mandatory signs require compliance.

3. Place Identification Signs – These maybe used to show the frontier

between two countries or for the purpose of showing the beginning and/or end
of built-up areas.

4. Confirmatory Signs – These are used to confirm the direction of a road.

They shall bear the name of one or more places. Where distances are shown,
the figures expressing them shall be placed after the name of the locality.

5. Other signs providing useful information to guide drivers.

6. Other signs indicating facilities for road users.

Signs, Shapes and Colors:

Color is of greater importance than use of shapes, and symbols and

should have the same universality of meaning as traffic signal aspects. Shape
is use in conjunction with color to differentiate between categories of sign and
by standardizing combinations, gives added emphasis for recognition.

The color and shape symbolism of international standard signs are based
largely on the following principles:
1. Signs surrounded by a red triangle give warning of some hazards.
2. Signs surrounded by a red ring sometimes also with a red diagonal bar,
normal indicate prohibition.
3. Signs on blue and green rectangular background give information.
4. Signs on blue disc give positive instruction.

In 1968 the United Nation’s Convention on Road Signs in Vienna,

Austria has adopted these international sign shapes of which the Philippines is
signatory. These basic sign shapes are:

1. Round and red sign – regulates the movement of turning and passing traffic
regulations.
2. Round black yellow signs – a warning that you are approaching a railroad
crossing.
3. Equilateral triangle red signs – a sign at the intersection directing driver to
yield the right-of-way to vehicles in the road being crossed.
4. Eight-sided red and white stop sign – the most popular and understood sign
by all tongues and colors.
5. Triangle red and black sign – approaching a danger zone, hill, slope, winding
road, and others.

Road Classification:
1. According to Political Subdivision:
a. National Roads – The main road as medium system with a right of way
from 20 to 120 meters.
b. Provincial Roads – The linkages between two municipalities with right
of way from 15 to 60 meters.
c. City Roads – The inter-link between municipalities and within the city
proper with right of way of 15 meters.
d. Municipal Roads – All roads within the town proper with right of way
of not less than 10 meters.
e. Barangay Roads – Commonly called farm to market road with right of
way not less than 2 meters.

2. According to Function:
a. Feeder road – Intended for farm to market traffic.
b. Local collector road – Intended to collect traffic from feeder road to
municipal road.
c. Major collector road – Intended as major arteries to collect inter-
locality traffic to provincial road.
d. Major highway – Serves as main artery that caters on big volumes of
vehicular traffic on national roadways.
e. Expressway – A through traffic for free-flow of vehicular movement.
f. Tunnel road – A passage of wide section cut through a hill or sea to
shorten circuitous roadway.
g. Subway – An underground conduit running entirely under the ground
for fast travel route of commuters.
h. Skyway – A modern urban system of roadway above street level for
free-flow traffic.

3. According to Topographical Terrain:

a. Flat road
b. Zigzag road
c. Steep-hill climbing road
d. Down-hill road
e. Winding road
f. Mountainous road
g. Roller-coaster road

Functional Classification of Roadway:

Where vehicles pass safely on:

a. Climb lane
b. Overtaking lane
c. Acceleration lane
d. Deceleration lane
e. Thru traffic lane
f. Turning lane

Where part of the roadway is used for:

a. Standing lane
b. Stopping lane
c. Bus stop

Where portion of the roadway is for:

a. Turning lane
b. Median lane
c. Speed change lane
 d. Merging-flow lane
e. Contra-flow lane
f. Bus lane
g. Bicycle lane

Sidewalk – It is an integral part of the roadway, the answer to the safety of

pedestrians.

CHAPTER – 7
Environment

This is not mere creative philosophy but a new vision with unique force
that could reshape the world of traffic management. It is about time
environment be institutionalize as traffic management pillars. Time has come
to inject a new approach so that traffic environment policies should be
proactive rather reactive and remedial, otherwise, we may create an
environment where no one can thrive nor survive. Environment is the
foundation of man’s survival and its destruction put man to end. Man is
warden of environment and therefore, he is destined to ensure the preservation
of these natural and inordinate values toward a better human future.

The Environmental Factor:

How environment does affect the driver’s behavior? How does it inter-link
to education, engineering, enforcement and economics of traffic management?
Trees are natural absorbers of carbon dioxide and other foul gases. The oxygen
we breathe as well as all living creatures is excluded from trees. This explains
the symbolic relationship between man and trees. But this natural cycle is
interrupted when forest and denuded to baldness, rivers and lakes polluted
with toxic wastes that deprives marine life of its natural habitat. Worst when
farm lands are reduced to sand dunes. The deforestation that causes floods in
the lowland and converts fertile lands into desert has brought to light man’s
continued onslaught of Mother Nature. And if remain uncheck will put
mankind in danger of extinction.

External Factors:

Behavioral patterns of drivers are disturbed by the external factor of

environment. Exposure to different environmental elements on the roadways
decreases the driver’s skill, keen perception and sound judgment, if drivers are
unaware of this unwanted variables while cruising the highways they are
courting danger and thus, prone to accidents. Among the common external
factors are:

1. The heat – It is a form of energy which causes the body to rise temperature,
to fuse and evaporate that can excite emotionally the driver’s skill while behind
the wheels.

2. The storm – This atmospheric disturbance with strong winds and rains is
usually accompanied by thunder and lightning. With this pervading
atmosphere and environmental mal-conditions, the driver on wheels is affected
physiologically and emotionally. At the height of heavy downpour and heavy
rains the visual range is limited impairing his effective control of the vehicle.
3. The fog – Unlike the cloud which is visible mass above the earth’s surface,
fog is condensing water vapor in cloud like masses that form closed to the
ground. This feature is its distinctive difference. Sometimes fog is caused by
masses of floating material of either dust or smoke that unclear the visibility of
the driver to less than 1,110 yards. Irritated by this environmental
phenomenon, judgment of the driver is substantially affected not to do. Against
those backdrops, driver should be guided not by the dictates of the heart but
the wisdom of the mind.

Internal factors:

All road risk factors, the driver’s behavior plays a critical role on the road
safety. Internal factor is a behavioral pattern of man which appears early in
life. Many voices are advocating the hypothesis of relationship between stress
and environment. In the past experience the driver succumbed to the wave of
extreme environmental heat or cold. Knowingly or unknowingly, his driving
skill may begin gradually and slowly deteriorate, gnawed to the danger zone of
losing control of the wheels which may end in road chaos. But not all drivers
on similar situation succumbed to the forces of environmental factors. The
reaction of the individual to environmental forcer is dependent upon the
strength and weakness of the driver’s internal factor.

The common identifiable internal factors that cause road accident are as
follows:

1. The personality – Through the corridor of the ages, driver is likened as the
king of the road. Until science would have perfected robot as a substitute, the
driver and machine shall still dominate the landscape the indispensable
tandem on the street.

Behind the mechanical curtain of conventional wisdom, all drivers and

passengers have one virtuous obsession, to reach destination in one piece.
Many times, this arena of expectation is broken by the twist of events. Driver’s
skill can be derailed depending upon the quality or state of his total being as a
person, his personality.

It is this internal factor that distinctly distinguishes an individual driver

from other drivers in relation to environment. The qualities of the driver
constitute his personal being and social traits. His personality is best tested
when confronted by the greatest chances of the environmental factors.

2. The character – In the shape tone of living memory, the lapse of man’s
character are so varied and complex that in the final analysis, the last
repository of ethics is the individual driver, sometimes mellowed or aggravated
by the environment.

From the beginning of time, the complex characters as to behavior and

habits, attitudes and interest and personal philosophy in life distinguishes a
particular driver from the other. Another scientific marvel is the discovery of a
detectable organism that is the result of the presence of gene or group of genes
that differentiates one driver from the other.

Driver may probably have developed the firmness for survival but his
character may yield to massive offensive of a violent environment and thus
brook peril and misfortunes while behind the wheels. Drivers by way of
omission succumb to human lapses and adversarial curse of the environment
which may end in road accident.

3. The epilepsy – It is define as a chronic nervous disorder of the human brain

affecting man’s consciousness and muscular control with various degrees of
severity. It may be congenital or brain damage caused by tumor, injury,
glandular imbalance or toxic substance and may result in convulsions or loss
of consciousness. Man’s boundless capacity to accept the inevitable with calm
resignation has its limits. Drivers are but human beings whose test of strength
is measured by their ability to withstand the noise and silence of the
environment.

Unless a person afflicted with congenital epilepsy can pass the standard
medical test foe acquiring driver’s license. It is an illness that can escape
medical detection especially during lucid interval. This kind of internal factor is
a potential magnet that attracts convulsion if the driver weakly reacts to the
chemistry of environment.

Sleeping Sickness – A chronic disease occurring in tropical countries like

Africa, this is caused by parasites “trypanosome gambience” and “rhodosiense”
and carried by the tsetse fly.

It causes fever, physical and mental commonly called “encyphalitis

lethargica”. What is pathetic is that this incidence becomes common to drivers
while cruising along the mountain trails or in forested areas, when stung by
these insects, the tendency of the driver’s body function is to diminish or at
worst, cease. This in effect a warning sign that danger lurks ahead as the
driver may lose control of the vehicle which may ultimately end in road
accident.

The past is littered with statistics that the rock of stability of the driver is
shattered when bitten by these insects at which he may be driven to the end by
the unkindness of nature. After all, mortal that he, his existence is bounded by
birth and death.

Vehicles Effects on Environment:

That the major effect of the use of motor vehicles are air and pollution:

Air Pollution – The most lethal effect of motor vehicle is the pollution caused by
engine exhaust. The finding shows that the carbon monoxide emission has a
higher percentage in highly urbanized cities. Air pollution is not only from our
busy streets but also from above. Every time a 4 engine jet aircraft flies, about
16 tons of carbon dioxide is discharged into the air.

This is one of the most difficult problems, because of the complexity of

the issues involved. The effects of pollution are also strongly affected by
meteorological and even by micro-climate condition.

Causes of Motor Vehicle Pollution:

Motor vehicle pollution is primarily caused by defects in our adjustment

of the engine, and the operation of old and poorly maintained vehicles on the
city streets. A good number of cars and taxis, in addition of jeepneys and
buses, operating in the Greater Manila area at this time, and more than five
years old. While the emissions of pollutants from individual exhaust of vehicles
may be small, it is the number of vehicles and the concentration of the
pollutants that result in the major contribution of motor vehicles to the air
pollution problem that exists today.

Noise Pollution – Less dangerous than air pollution but admittedly more
difficult and irritating, is the problem of vehicular noise. Of several sources of
vehicular noise, the cars tire-roadway interaction and truck exhaust noise have
been identified as the primary cause of noise pollution.

The effect of traffic noise on human seems to be more psychological.

Several studies have pointed to “annoyance” as been the widespread effect.
There is no question that highway alone can cause mental health cannot be
disregarded.

The magnitude and nature of air and noise pollution as environmental hazard
can no longer be ignored.

Other Environmental Effect of Urban Transport:

Vibration – effect can be severe, particularly where there are heavy trucks and
when the building is old. While there are subjective costs from experiencing
vibration, a minimum cost of damage or prevention can be established from
experience and experiment.

Visual Intrusion – can have positive as well as negative aspects. If a motor way
blots out an unsightly prison of railway yard, it may have positive benefits. On
the other hand, the appearance of an elevated expressway or railway above a
neighborhood is one of the aspects most frequently complained of. In general

Loss of Privacy – from drivers and other being able to look at one’s house and
garden frequently disliked environment effect. Walls and earthworks would
prevent this, so that if those being comparatively cheap are justified to reduce
noise, they serve this end also.

Loss of Light (Change on the amount of light) – it is easier up to appoint

because part of the disbenefit can be valued in term of the additional lighting
coast of those affected; but there is probably a psychological element also
which would not be easy or perhaps necessary, to disentangle where relevant
from the last two items.
Neighborhood Severance – can partly be quantified in terms of changed travel
time and costs, and accident experience to pedestrians and traffic.

Relocation – defined to cover compensation to those who relocated as a

consequence of transport investment, whether property owner of tenants. The
people relocated will tend to decentralized as will those sufficient affected by
the environment consequences to prefer to move.

Disturbance Costs in some cases offset by benefits which are experienced by

people during the construction of new facilities, loss of business, excess noise,
dirt, and vibration during building and excess journey costs through diversions
because of building.

Accidents – are evaluated by well established procedures of which perhaps the

only major controversial aspect is the evaluation given to human life. A certain
amount is known about differences in accident experience on different roads
and in different circumstances.
Pedestrian Journey – the opportunity to make the roads safe and enjoyable for
pedestrians and efficient for vehicles, and set of roads provided access to
dwelling and is designed primarily for the safety of pedestrians.

Congestion and Other Benefits to Vehicles – is for a livable and safe residential
environment by reducing “through” vehicle travel. Travel must be made
convenient. Highway diversion curves indicate that 80 percent of the traffic will
take a route that is 20 percent faster. Vehicle travel time is made up of three
components: free flowing travel, stop time and acceleration or deceleration.

Presidential Decree 1181:

Providing for the Prevention, Control and Abatement of Air Pollution from
motor vehicles and for other purposes.

Whereas, the increase use of motor vehicles is fast becoming a major

source of the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution in the
country, particularly in urban areas.

Whereas, this phenomenon is best exemplified by the emission of carbon

monoxide, particulate, sulfur dioxide and other associated pollutants from
about 400,000 registered vehicles of all types on Metro Manila amounting to
some 4,000 metric tons a day, which accounts for over 75 percent of the total
air pollution in the area.

Whereas, such air pollution poses mounting danger to public health and
welfare, damage to the deterioration of property, the hazards to land
transportation; and

Whereas, it is necessary to take immediate action and institute

appropriate measure to regulate the emission of air pollutants from motor
vehicles.

Purpose:

Section 1: – it is the purpose of this decree to prevent, control, and abate the
emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles in order to protect the health
and welfare of the people and to prevent or minimize damage to property and
hazards to land transportation.

Definition of Terms:

Section 2: - When used in this Decree, the following terms shall, unless the
context otherwise indicates, have meanings respectively assigned to them:

a. Motor Vehicle – Any vehicle propelled by a gasoline or diesel engine or

by any means other human or animal power, constructed and operated
principally for the conveyance of persons or the transporting of property or
goods on a public highway or street opened to public use:
b. Air Pollutants – Any harmful or undesirable matter emitted in the
atmosphere, including smoke, soot, solid particles of any kind, undesirable
gases, fumes and terrible odor.
c. Pollution Control Device – Any device or apparatus used to prevent,
control or abate the pollution of air caused by emissions from motor vehicles at
levels within the air pollution control standards established by the National
Pollution Control Commission (NPCC).
d. Owner/Operator – Any person who owns, leases, controls or operates
motor vehicles.
e. Regulation – Any rule or regulation promulgated under this decree.

Prohibited Acts:

Section 3: - It shall be unlawful for any owner or operator of a motor vehicle to

allow it to discharge air pollutants at levels greater than acceptable pollutants
concentration standards prescribed by the NPCC with respect to the class
motor vehicles to which said motor vehicles belongs.

Section 4: - This owner or operator of a motor vehicle shall not use his vehicle
or cause or allow it to be used unless motor vehicle meets the established
emission standards as certified by the NPCC.

Section 5: No imported or locally manufactured motor vehicle shall be sold,

registered or operated after the date of effectivity of the implementing rules and
regulation of this decree unless it meets the established emission standards as
certified by the NPCC.

Pollution Control Devices:

Section 6: - The owner or operator of motor vehicles that does not meet the
established emission standards shall be required to install in his model any
appropriate pollution.

Rules and Regulation, Formulation and Implementation:

Section 7: - The NPCC with the National Science Development Board (NSDB),
Department of Energy (DoE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and
Land Transportation Office (LTO), shall promulgate rules and regulations for
appropriate control measure to implement and attain the objectives of this
Decree, which shall include but shall not be confined to the following:
1. establishment of maximum allowable emissions of specific air
pollutants for all classes, types or models of motor vehicles currently registered
and for new vehicles not yet registered;
2. specifications of the kind of pollution control device/s which maybe
required to be installed on such motor vehicles;
3. regulations for the distribution, sale, registrations and use of motor
vehicles;
4. specifications for the correct motor fuels to be used by various types of
motor vehicle engines;
5. setting of date/s of effectivity of certain rules and regulations
governing particular subject matter;
6. requirement for the issuance and life of certificate of compliance; and
7. procedure with respect to hearing which shall be bound by technical
rules of evidence.

Section 8: - The NPCC, in consultation with the LTO, the Board of

Transportation (BoT) and other traffic enforcement authorities shall ensure the
implementation and strong enforcement of this Decree and its implementing
rules and regulations.
Section 9: - The NPCC, in consultation with the LTO, BoT, PNP, DILG and in
coordination and cooperation with the traffic enforcement agencies, may under
certain circumstances prohibit or enjoin in writing, the use of motor vehicles or
any specified class motor vehicles in any area of street at all times, or during
particular times as any times, as may so specified in order to protect human
health and public welfare and to ensure compliance with the established
national ambient air quality standards.

Section 10: - The NPCC shall coordinate with the LTO, BoT, and other
enforcement agencies involved in traffic and transportation management for
the prevention, control and abatement of air pollution in traffic congested
areas.

Section 11: - The NPCC, in consultation with the LTO and the BoT, shall be
responsible for the inspection of motor vehicles and their testing for the
purpose of determining the concentration and/or rate of emission of air
pollutants emitted by them; the correct installation maintenance and operation
of any or all pollution control devices; and for recommending withholding, or
suspension of, the registration of any vehicle which does not comply with the
regulations. It shall also responsible for the establishment and operation of a
sufficient number of centers where such inspection and testing maybe
effectively carried out and appropriate certificates of compliance issued.

General Provisions:

Section 12: - It shall be the joint responsibility of the LTO, BoT, the Department
of Public Information, and the National Media Production Center, to conduct a
continuing public information campaign exhorting the owners and operators of
motors vehicles to regularly maintain, adjust, and operate their vehicles in
accordance with the manufacture’s recommendation contained in the vehicles
operating manual, and the drivers to properly operate the motor vehicles with
particular caution against overloading vehicles or over fueling the engines
when starting from cold or during acceleration, and to inform the public of any
other relevant matters, such as engine and other modification measures which
may be adopted in order to minimized air pollution and in the interest of
energy conservation.

Hearing Procedures:

Section 13: - All cases involving violations of this decree and or its
implementing rules and regulations shall be reported to or filed with the NPCC
by any person or by its deputized agents for hearing: Provided, that report of
the latter shall be made immediately not later than 24 hours from the time of
knowledge of the violation. The hearing officer duly designated by the
Commissioner of the NPCC shall have the authority to decide the case and
impose the penalties prescribed in this decree. His decision shall become final
and executory if no appeal is taken to the Commissioner within 15 days from
notice of the decision. The decision of the Commissioner shall be final.

Related Laws w/ P.D. 1181:

R.A. 3931 – Pollution Control Law

P.D. 984 – Amended the R.A. 3931

P.D. 1152 – Philippine Environment Code

L.O.I. 551 – Directing the law enforcement agencies to implement the Pollution
Control Program

CHAPTER -8
Economics

Economics oils the wheels of traffic. It is not a mere shadow of force but
the centrifugal force that dictates the success or failure of traffic governance.
Time has come that economics of traffic be rescued from the lack of interest of
wrong perceptions. Expert must have an open mind not just limited to the
narrow confines of 3E’s in traffic and refuse to look beyond the costly illusion
of its advocates.

There is novel decision/s that might be charting unpopular course but

hope to give shape and sinews to an empty illusion of the past and to look
forward to the new complexion of the present system with new vision of the
future; the crowning of the 5 th E of traffic, ECONOMICS. This is not a choice of
necessity but signs of the time.
In this days and age, the most imposing testament of public anger and woes
are the unabated traffic conflicts. Urban life seem to have been hostage to this
most unyielding antithesis; the unwanted traffic trash of the modern road life.
Whether by faith or fortune, traffic becomes an inescapable lifestyle in
Metropolitan arena of the world; the indication of modern road dilemma of
civility.

In this era of fast-moving world, it is difficult to guarantee solution with

predictable success in the absence of economics interplay. Economics is the
center of gravity of traffic and the bedrock upon which the system depends.

Economics specifically centered its study to the productive resources to

produce commodities and distribution for their consumption.

1. Productive resources are:

a. Land c. Capital
b. Labor d. Knowledge

2. Productive commodities are:

a. Rice c. Ships
b. Meat d. Road

Economic Problems:

Human sociability craves for many wants and seems to admit no

satisfaction: problems begin. But all of these wants are not free and can only
be required at the altar of sacrifice: most goods are scarce. Gods are not
necessarily chosen to satisfy basic wants either directly or indirectly. Capital
goods are produced for industries to produce goods for consumption. This
element of choice: how to satisfy the present wants for the future wants?

Even with modern infrastructure plan as an alternative solution to the

ills of traffic will put to not anything if the resources are scarce: a classical
balancing interaction of traffic and economics.
Economic Growth and Development

These two economic parameters are interchangeably been misconstrued:

1. Economic growth refers to sustained increase in output as measured by

gross national product (GNP); the sum total of goods produced in a given year
with the economy. Technology and advancement in production hastened
economic growth: as production increases, income also increases.

2. Economic development is a complex process and broader in scope that

economic growth: political, social and cultural factors that produces changes
and development. These changes improve the capacity to enjoy material fruits
of progress: individual and society.

Time has come when the principle of GNP would be the yardstick to
measure the number of vehicle on the roadways as a parameter of progress.

Law of Supply and Demand:

On economics, a free market, the price of commodity is relatively high

when demand of its abundant and supply is low. Likewise, the price is
relatively low when supply is abundant and demand is scarce.

The interaction of supply and demand in preferences or tastes, on

incomes, on population, and on expectations. Any of these factors can increase
or decrease the demand of the product, at a given price. In the event that
preferences changes so that many wants to buy more of a commodity, at a
given price, than there is an increase in demand.

In final analysis, market exists as long as there is an interaction between

buyer and seller. The law of supply and demand states that at high price, few
goods are brought; and at more goods are brought at low price. Results, in the
law of supply, more are offered for sale when price is high and fewer goods are
offered sale when the price is low.

Literacy Level:

Incontestably, literacy affects economic behavior. The literacy level is the

parameter of pressure of pollution on resources. Simply stated, if the literacy
rates is poor, expected low transmission of new knowledge and technology.
This maybe aggravated by poor transportation system: the mobility of personal
contract and trade is nothing. The factors that affect economics through
literacy level are: ignorance due to illiteracy and culture which greatly influence
the economic decision makers among developing countries.

The term “human capital formation” is the product of quality of human

resources that acquire knowledge either from formal or non-formal education
that spark the scale of economic growth. The use of “physical capital” depends
on the quality of human capital possessed by individuals. Thus, the existences
of scientific and technological community sharpen by education and experience
can lead to an innovative and inventive society.

Therefore, the returns of educational investment is through the human

begins as an active factor that can accumulate capital and build social and
political conduits to mobilized resources: economic growth.
 CHAPTER – 9
Traffic Accident Investigation

To know what questions to ask and what to look for, you must have
some fundamental bearing on accidents and their causes. When you speak of a
traffic accident, everybody knows what you mean – something went wrong on
the highway, either a car is wrecked; somebody is injured or possibly killed. In
this regard as traffic law enforcer, you should have knowledge about traffic
accident and the relevant investigation procedure.

Right of the Person Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation

and the Duties of the Arresting, Detaining, and Investigating Officer:

Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under his order or in his
place, who arrest, detained or investigate any person for the commission of an
offense shall inform the latter, in a language known to and understood by him,
of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel,
preferably of his own choice, who shall at all times be allowed to confer
privately with the person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation. If
such person cannot afford the service of his own counsel, he must be provided
with a competent and independent counsel by the investigation officer.

The custodial investigation report shall be reduced to writing by the

investigating officer, provided that before such report is signed, or thumb
marked if the person arrested or detained does not know how to read and write
it shall be read and adequately explained to him by his counsel or by the
assisting counsel provided by the investigating officer in the language or dialect
known to such arrested person, otherwise, such investigation report shall be
null and void and no effect whatsoever.

In the absence of any lawyer, no custodial investigation shall be

conducted and the suspected person can only be detained by the investigating
officer in accordance with the provision of Article 125 of the Revised Penal
Code.

Any arresting public officer or employee, or any investigating officer, who

fails to inform any person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation of
his rights, shall suffer a fine of P6,000.00 or a penalty of imprisonment of not
less than 8 years but not more than 10 years, or both. The penalty of perpetual
absolute disqualification shall also be imposed upon the investigating officer
who shall be previously convicted of a similar offense.

The same penalties shall be imposed upon a public officer or employee,

or anyone acting upon orders of such investigating officer, or in his place, who
fails to provide a competent and independent counsel to a person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation for the commission of any offense if
the latter cannot afford the service of his counsel. (R.A. 7438)

Steps to be Taken During Traffic Accident Investigation:

Step One – Upon arrival at the scene of the accident get the facts from the
bystanders or complainants: Answer the following:
a. What happened;
b. Who and What was involved;
c. Where and When happened;
 d. Why it happened;
e. How the accident occurred, (5W and 1H), and report the incident to
the headquarters by all means. If there are injured persons, secure them
immediately.

Step Two
A. Preliminary questions to drivers:
1. Who was driving and which vehicle?
2. Look for signs of nervousness, confusions and intoxication.
B. Gather clues for identifying hit-and-run vehicles.
C. Question other witnesses.
D. Examine driver’s condition.
1. Check license and record data.
2. Check registration certificate and record data.
3. Verify ownership.
4. Account step-by-step what happened.
E. Position or condition of vehicles.
1. Lights and light switches.
2. Gear position and tires.
3. Mark position of vehicles if they must be moved.
4. Look for unusual thing inside the vehicle.
F. Form preliminary opinion as to how traffic accident occurred.
G. Photograph skid marks and locations for later measuring.
H. Record place to which injured persons or damage vehicles were or will be
taken.
Step Three – After getting short live evidence:
A. Make a test skid.
B. Decide whether proof of violation is sufficient for arrest. If so, make arrest or
issue citation ticket.
C. Complete examination of vehicles involved.
D. Locate key event or point of impact of accident.
E. Make additional photographs of the following:
1. Vehicle damage.
2. View obstruction.
3. Present condition.
4. Control devices.
F. Measure for scale diagram of location is hard to reach.
G. Get additional facts at the scene of the incident.
H. Report to headquarters by radio or telephone.

Step Four – After leaving the scene:

A. Get a medical report of injuries from the hospital or doctor.
B. Notify the following:
1. Relatives of dead or injured person.
2. Owner/operator of the vehicle.
C. Have photograph developed.
D. Have specimen analyzed, if any were taken, have chemical test.
E. Complete the report of accident.
1. Have copies made if necessary.
2. File report and copies.
F. Complete factual data on investigation report if not completed at the scene.
G. Reconstruct the accident.
1. Estimate speed of vehicles involved.
2. Draw scale diagram.
3. Analyze angle of collision.
4. Get technical help if necessary.
 5. Summarize opinions.
H. Complete report of investigation (file report and notes)
I. Inform other agencies of department of any condition at the scene which
needs attention for safety.

Step Five – If the case go to court:

A. Find out what the prosecutor wants, to straighten evidence.
B. Return to the scene of the accident if necessary for the following:
1. Additional photograph
2. Long lived evidence.
3. Measurement for scale diagram for use of court.
4. Look for additional witnesses and review their testimony and;
4.a Relatives and friends who could confirm activities.
4.b Technicians who developed pictures, made chemical test,
etc.
4.c Expert who could help.
C. Pre-trial conference with prosecutor witness.
D. Testify in court.
E. Organized and file papers, for future references.

Step to Take in Case of Injury:

1. Stop the arterial bleeding.

2. Ask help if needed.
3. Protect the injured from exposure.
4. Cordon the scene of the accident.

Traffic Accident Investigation Report:

A. Uniform traffic accident reporting system.

B. Preparation of traffic accident report.
1. By a competent bonafide traffic accident investigator.
2. Requirements for an investigator in the submission of report such as
evidence gathered, diagrams, sketches as well as a sworn statements of
witnesses.
3. Traffic accident investigation report will be accomplished if five copies
or more if necessary.
3.a one copy for the investigator.
3.b One copy for the record section of the Traffic Management
Office.
3.c One copy for the office of the prosecutor/court.
3.d One copy for the Traffic Operation Center.
3.e One copies each for the insurance companies of the
parties involved.

Traffic Accident Analysis:

The occurrence of accident constitutes a loss to society. This could be in

terms of direct losses (loss of life or limb, damage to property) or losses which
are not immediately apparent (loss of productivity, repair costs, insurance
costs, rehabilitation costs, losses resulting from induced congestion, etc.) In as
much as these losses eventually affect the economy, there is a need to reduce
the number of accidents occurring each year.

Accident analysis is a detail study made to determine the factors

contributing to the occurrence of accidents. Proper identification of
contributory factors is needed in implementing measures to prevent the
occurrence or mitigate the effect of accidents.

Accident Reconstruction:

It is the effort to determine, from whatever information is available, how

the accident happened. Describing the event of the accident, in more or less
detail, is the aim of accident reconstruction. This involves attempting to
determine, for each vehicle or pedestrian involved, such particulars as:
a. Position on the road
b. Facing or heading direction
c. Speed
d. Direction travel
e. Acceleration or deceleration
f. Rotation

Reconstruction does not try to explain why an accident happened. That

would require describing the entire combination of conditions which would
produce another identical accident. Describing why an accident happened is
cause analysis rather than reconstruction. However, reconstruction does not
often suggest circumstances or conditions that were contributing factors; that
is had they been different, the accident would not have occurred.

Results of Reconstruction:

Opinions or conclusions are the product of accident reconstruction. To

the extent that reports of direct observations are available and can be
depended on as facts, reconstruction is unnecessary. But if there were no eye
witnesses of the occurrence, reconstruction can sometimes form useful
conclusions about how the accident happened. From the results of the
accident, such as marks of the road and damage to vehicles.

Accident reconstruction is a universally accepted tool in traffic accident

investigation; however several determinants have to be resolved to prevent
premature conclusion. This is where the skill of the investigator is put to test
and likewise separate the beginner from the professionals, these are:
1. Lateral position of both man and machine on the roadway.
2. Travel route of parties.
3. Condition of the man on the wheel and vehicles involved.
4. Weather condition and lighting.
5. Road condition and range of speed.
6. Laws violated by parties.
7. Test the validity of the conclusions.

Approaches to the Problem:

Although few specific rules can be set down for reconstructing traffic
accidents, certain useful approaches to the problem have been developed. Such
approaches are applicable in many typical cases, but it would be unreasonable
to try to force these approaches to apply universally. Many accident
investigations have such special requirements that an appropriate approach
has to be invented. Some of the steps described below are applicable to every
accident reconstruction problem; others are less generally applicable.
1. State the problem/s.
2. Review data available.
3. Consider the need to obtain more data.
 4. Prepare a working after accident situation map.
5. Work back.
6. Test hypothesis.
7. Consider whether all reported results of the accident are satisfactorily
accounted for.
8. Test the conclusion reached.
9. Prepare diagrams, charts and tables.

A person or persons conducting reconstruction must understand certain

fundamentals before he can estimate speeds dependably by using the more
common formulas or routines for that purpose. Most of the formulas are
expressed as equations made up of letters (symbols) which represent quantities
(members). A quantity maybe designated in any of the various standard units
of measurements, such as meters and seconds. The number representing the
quantity depends on the unit of measuring employed.

Coefficient of Friction:

The measurement of the relationship between the rubber and the road
expressed in percentage of efficiency is universally referred to as coefficient of
friction. Some traffic moguls denominated it as Drag Factor. Friction is defined
as the resistance between the tire and the roadway that determine the
minimum speed of the vehicle after acceleration/deceleration and sudden
change of direction.

The amount of rubber worn from the tire tread depends upon the
amount of friction on the road. Invariably, the coefficient of friction is affected
by the type, kind, design of the road surface and by natural man made factors,
these are:
1. Type of surface: asphalted, cemented, sandy or dirt road.
2. Kind of surface: wet, dry, snowy or icy.
3. Design: slope, downhill and others.
4. Temperature: Hot, cold and humid.
5. Natural disaster: flood, mudflow, landslide, and lahar flow.
6. Contamination of surface: oil residue, gas leak, fruit peels and other
foreign bodies spread on the road surface.

The world of traffic administrators is very thankful to Warren E. Clark

and other savants whose painstaking research have developed and validated a
formula to determined the coefficient of friction in a given roadway that answer
the question: What is the speed of the vehicle before the accident?

The coefficient of friction formula expressed in English system is:

V.V
f = -----------
30S

Where:
f = small letter f stand for coefficient of friction
V = the capital V means velocity or speed in miles per hour
S = the capital S used in physics formula denotes distance in feet
30 = the number 30 is constant and does not change

The formula for coefficient of friction expressed in Metric system is:

V.V
F = -----------
 255S

Where:
f = small letter f stand for coefficient of friction
V = the capital V means velocity or speed in miles per hour
S = the capital S used in physics formula denotes distance in feet
255 = is the numerical constant figure and does not change

To determine the coefficient of friction expressed in Metric system

formula requires mental gymnastics in the world of mathematics. This exercise
is for clarity and to appreciate the importance of the formula in solving what
many believes unsolvable. Thus, having the given speed at 40 kilometers per
hour and the skid mark distance is 10 meters, the coefficient of friction is:

1. The basic formula; 255 constant figure and does not change
V.V
f = -------
255S

2. Substitution by given figures

25.25
f = --------
255 X 10

3. 625 is the square of velocity 25; 255 is the product of constant 255
multiplied by skid marks 10
265
f = --------
2,550

4. f = the quotient of 265 divided by 2,550 is the coefficient of friction

5. f = 0.25 is the quotient of 625 divided by 2,550

6. f = 25%, to get the percentage multiply 0.25 by 100 and the product is 25 or
25%

Skid Marks:

The maneuvering of the vehicle on the road that deposited visible traces
of rubber worn on the roadway surface is technically termed as skid marks.
There are only 3 factors where the rubber traces is left on the road, simply
stated, these are:
1. when it go
2. when it stop
3. when it suddenly change course

1. When to go or denominated as acceleration skid marks. These areas

traceable after the vehicle rapidly accelerated the speed from start and the
weight of the vehicle is shifted to the rear tire under control conditions.

It should be noted that the skid marks is dark at the start and become
lighter and narrow as the vehicle progresses. This visible trace of rubber on the
roadway is called an accelerated skid mark.
The formula to determine the speed of the vehicle at the end of the acceleration
skid mark:

V = 15Sf

Where:
V = velocity or speed in miles per hour
15 = constant
S = the average of the skid marks distance in feet
f = coefficient of friction

To test the validity of the formula, assume that the average skid mark is
132 feet in length and the coefficient of friction is 65%. By way of substitution
of the formula to given factors, find the speed of the acceleration skid marks.
To demonstrate how the formula operates.

1. V = 15Sf – formula for determining velocity in miles per hour from an

acceleration skid marks.

2. V = 15 X 132 X 0.65 – 15 is constant, 132 is the skid mark distance in feet,

and 0.65 is the given coefficient of friction.

3. V = 1287 – 15 times 132 times .065 equals 1,287.

4. V = 1287 – the square root of 1,287 is 35.87

5. V = 35.87 miles per hour

6. V = 36 miles per hour by rounding off.

In the event that there are accelerated skid marks, find the average to
have a skid distance. There are, however, confusions as to whether the skid
mark is an accelerated or lock-wheeled skid marks. The determinant factor is
the snake like path of skid mark which undoubtedly is traced to accelerate skid
marks for lock-wheeled skid marks by its very nature can not be steered and
moved only by the forces of gravity.
It is observed that the formula to find the coefficient of friction, skid
marks and other computation in traffic risk is governed by square roots. It
should be noted, even professionals and students of mathematics will agree
that square roots is their nightmare and nemesis as a subject.

While calculators and other modern electronic machines can readily give
an instant answer, however, during judicial inquiry, it would be absurd if not
fatal if the procedure is unexplainable. It is for this reason that demonstrations
and exercises have to be incorporated for the purpose.

2. When it stop or labeled as deceleration skid mark. This is the second factor
of skid mark where a visible trace of rubber is imprint on the surface of the
roadway by applying a brake, struck by other vehicles or pushed, in effect,
decelerates the speed.

What is noticeable is when the brake is applied, the weight of the vehicle
is shifted forward, the vehicle can not be steered and hear the squirming sound
of burning rubber being eroded from the tread. What is most visible is the tire
print as the tire gradually stops. The tire print can also be used as vital
evidence in hit-and-run cases.
 The rubber residue burned on the road surface from the tread as a
consequence of the brake applied is denominated by many authors as lock-
wheeled skid marks. A front tire lock-wheeled skid mark open times darkened
up to the point of rest or to the point of impact in a collision. Pre-collision
locked-wheel skid marks which were very evident should only be used to
determine the velocity for said collision.

The formula to find the velocity or the minimum speed of the vehicle before
collision is:
V = 255Sf

Where:
V = velocity or speed in terms of kilometers per hour
S = the skid distance in meters
f = coefficient of friction
255 = is constant and never change

For the purpose of illustration, assume the skid distance of 30 meters

and a coefficient of friction is 70% or 0.70

1. V = 255Sf – basic formula

2. V = 255Sf – 255 is the constant and never change

3. V = 255 X 30 X 0.70 – substitution of the given number in the formula

4. V = 5,355 – the product of 255 times 30 times .070 is 5,355

5. V = 73 miles per hour minimum

In the above illustration, 73 are the nearest whole number when

multiplied by it equals 5,355. While not exact, but for the purpose of judicial
inquiry it is considered fair and just.

The Gap Skid:

This kind of skid marks is not remote to appear especially on old model
vehicles, when several pumping of the brakes is needed before it put to
complete stop. It is the failure of several applications of brake to stop the
vehicle that creates the Gap Skid. To find the skid marks only measures the
impending and locked-wheel skid marks formula.

The Bounces Skid Marks:

As the titles suggest, it is more of accidental than intentional when the

vehicle while cruising bounces over the street humps or pot holes while trying
to stop. The bounces cause gap and lock-wheeled skid marks failed to continue
as a consequence of the humps. That skid mark is called Bounces Skid.

In the determination of the minimum speed of the vehicle the bounces

skid mark should be measured from the beginning to the end as if there was
no skip gap.

3. When it suddenly change course. A vehicle negotiating a right sharp curve

at high speed more than the arc or area can accommodate will produce a
squirking sound of tires that will turn the vehicle off-center by the forces
known in science as centrifugal force. This skid marks is called as centrifugal
skid marks, meaning a force expanded out ward and away from the center.

As the vehicle is cruising along the sharp curve, the weight of the vehicle
is shifted to the left front tire that leaves imprinted skid marks on the roadway.
Actually, it is the sidewall tire that is scrubbed on the road that leaves a
distinct skid marks called side wall tread striations.

Many traffic experts concluded that there are two modes of approaches
to the speed determination of the vehicle in centrifugal skid marks, these are:
1. determine the radius of the circle;
2. then find the velocity in terms of kilometer per hour

The Formula for Radius:

Before embarking on the technical world of the circle one has to identify
some terms to easily comprehend discussion. The radius means the distance
from the center of the circle of the circle itself; the cord is the straight line that
can intersect the circle at any given point without having to pass through the
center of the circle; and the medians that refer to the measurement taken from
the right angle to the cord up the circle.

Having the chord and the medians know, the formula for radius.
C.C + m
R = ----------
8m + 2
Where:
R = the radius
C = chord
m = the medians

To illustrate the above formula for better comprehension to both student

and professionals, assume that the 75 feet in length and the distance of the
one side of the tape to another side is 50 feet which is chord and measurement
refers to a medians in 2 feet. To substitute the formula with the given figures.

C.C +m
1. R = ---------
8m + 2

50 X 50 0.58
2. R = --------- + ----
8 X 0.58 2

2,500 0.58
3. R = --------- + ----
4.64 29

4. R = 538 + 0.29

5. R = 538.29

To test the validity of the given formula, assume that the coefficient of
friction is 70 percent or 0.70. Once the radius is known, the formula to find the
centrifugal skid mark is:
 V = 15Rf

Where:
V = velocity or speed
R = radius
15 = constant
f = coefficient of friction

To demonstrate how the formula operate in the determination of the

minimum speed of the vehicle after it suddenly change course is:

1. V = 15Rf – formula to determine velocity in miles per hour

2. V = 15 X 358.29 X 0.70 – 15 is constant 538.29 is the radius and 0.70 is the

coefficient of friction

3. V = 5,652 – 15 times 538.29 times 0.70 equals 5,652

4. V = 5,652 – the highest number when multiplied by itself almost equal to

5652 is 75

5. V = 75 miles per hour

For the purpose of presenting figures before the Court of Law, the court
can take judicial notice of the given figures.

The formula to find the minimum speed of the vehicle when it suddenly change
course as discovered by Mr. Warren Clark is expressed in Metric System.

V = 128Rf

Where:
V = velocity or speed in kilometer per hour
R = radius
123 = constant never change
f = coefficient of friction

To demonstrate how the formula operates to find the speed of the vehicle
when it suddenly change course off the road, assume that the radius is 60
meters and the coefficient of friction is 0.70 or 70 percent.

1. V = 128Rf – formula to determine velocity or speed in kilometers per hour

2. V = 128 X 60 X 0.70 – 128 is constant and never change, 60 is the radius

and 0.70 is the coefficient of friction

3. V = 5,376 – 128 times 60 times 0.70 equals 5,376

4. V = 5,376 – the highest number when multiplied by itself almost equal to

5,376 is 73

5. V = 73 kilometers per hour

It is worth mentioning that as of late, many court’s or equity worldwide

take judicial notice of the aforesaid formula as the basis of computation for
finding the minimum speed of the vehicle before the collision, vis-à-vis the
product of coefficient of friction by the constant figure and the skid marks
equals the velocity in terms of miles or kilometers per hour.

This formula was further gain acceptance and validation by the

decisional doctrine as enunciated in the leading case of People vs. Herman
before the Traffic Magistrate City Court, New York City, 20 N.Y.S.(2 nd) 174 N.Y.
Misc.235. This ruling appears to influence many countries to take official
cognizance of the admissibility of skid marks as evidentiary tool to determine
the minimum speed of the vehicle before the vehicular accident.

This ruling not only accentuates the authenticity of the formula but
terminate any protracted argument to the contrary notwithstanding. “The road
to hell” as someone said, “is sometimes covered with good intention.”

Classification of Accident According to Severity:

1. Fatal Accident – any motor vehicle accident that results in death to

one or more person.
2. Non-fatal Accident – any motor vehicle accident that results in injuries
other than fatal (death) to one or more persons.
3. Property Damage Accident – is any motor vehicle accident where there
is no death or injury to any person but only to the motor vehicle or to other
property including injury or death to animal.

Classification of Motor Vehicle Accident According to Key Event

1. Running off-road
2. Non-collision on road.
a. Overturning
b. Other non-collision
3. Collision on road with: Motor Vehicle versus:
* Pedestrian
* Other motor vehicle in traffic
* Parked motor vehicle
* Bicycle
* Railroad train
* Fixed object
* Other objects

Causes of Motor Vehicle Traffic Accident:

A. Simultaneous factor:
1. Road condition
2. Driver’s attitude or behavior
3. Weather conditions

B. Sequential factor:
1. Speed is greater or less than safe
2. Defective vehicle (vehicle malfunction)

C. Operational factor:
1. Road hazards
2. Driver’s non-compliance to traffic laws, rules and regulations.

D. Perception factors:
1. Driver’s inability to react promptly to a situation.
 2. Driver’s faulty action to escape collision course.

Chain of Events in Vehicular Accident:

1. Perception of hazards – seeing, feeling or hearing and understanding the

usual or unexpected movement or condition that could be taken as a sign of
the accident about to happen.
2. Start of evasive action – the first action taken by a traffic unit to escape from
a collision course or otherwise avoid the hazards. This is the reaction of the
driver to top avoid collision.
3. Initial contact – a first accidental touching of an object of collision with by a
unit in motion.
4. Maximum engagement – is the greatest collapse or overlap in a collision. The
force between a traffic unit and the object collided with the greatest or
maximum engagement.
5. Disengagement – the separation of traffic unit in motion from an object with
which it has collided. Force between the object ceases at this time.
6. Stopping – is coming to rest. It is usually stabilizes the accident situation.
7. Injury – sustained bodily harm.

Hit-and-run Investigation:

Hit-and-run commonly applied to driver who failed to stop after a road

accident. It is the failure to yield to any officer within reasonable time: the
gravamen or the keystone which make the driver liable.

Settled is the rule, that the non-stopping of the driver after the accident
has the legal presumption of evading social and moral responsibilities as
mandated by law, in effect, several legal actions can be filed against the hit-
and-run driver, among them are:
1. Abandonment of one’s victim.
2. Failure to lend assistance to the injured parties.
3. Reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
4. Reckless imprudence resulting to damage to properties.
5. Failure to render assistance to victim.
6. Violation of Section 55, R.A. 4136 as amended.
7. Civil liability of a person guilty of felony.

A Good Reason of Bringing Hit-and-Run Driver’s to Justice:

1. Increase public support for traffic work.

2. Enable people to appraise result to traffic law enforcement.
3. Provides victim a chance to receive compensation for injuries and losses
sustained.

Nature of Common Hit-and-Run Cases:

1. Run over of pedestrian crossing on marked crosswalk.

2. Sideswiped of pedestrian on the sidewalk.
3. Collided with a moving vehicle while overtaking on same direction.
4. Collided with a moving vehicle while overtaking on opposite direction.
5. Damage parked vehicle along the roadside.
6. Crushed police road-blocks.
7. Bumped stray animal on the roadway.
How to Delimit the Scope of Investigation from the Wide Universe of
Unknown:

* Given: A pedestrian when run-over by a speeding vehicle while crossing the

marked cross-walk at 1:00 PM. Blood, splintered glass and debris were
splattered on the pavement near the victim.

* Unknown:
1. the victim’s identification
2. the kind of vehicle
3. the make of vehicle
4. the model of vehicle
5. the registered vehicle
6. the driver
7. the eyewitness

The absence of informant or eyewitness is not a plausible reason for a

crime to be unsolved. As gainsaid, there is no perfect crime only imperfect
investigation. For every crime the criminals always leave imprints of his act.

Identifying the Impossible: Fast Track:

If the accident victim is pronounced dead by the physician, the scene be

secured, sketch and photograph for posterity. The cadaver should be sent to
police morgue for autopsy and other laboratory tests to determine the cause of
death. The copies of the fingerprints are sent to the laboratory for identification
of the victim. Get the approximate height, age, complexion, the kind of
clothing’s at the time of the accident and with any natural or man-made
identifying marks. If there is blood on the pavement, collect and handle it in
accordance with established procedure and to prevent the putrefaction of fresh
or moist bloodstain, it has to be dried in open air, sealed and sent for
laboratory analysis for future reference. Likewise, the strand of hair if any,
should be collected, for hair has a unique attributes that can reveal a hidden
secret with perfect accuracy as to sex, race and peculiarities which could
provide a vital clue to the resolution of the case. Then request all radio
broadcast listeners to phone-in the station, if they have any kin or relative that
resemble the victims given facts or data. Simultaneously, fax all the details of
the victim to print media to maximize all avenues to hasten the identification of
the victim.

Splintered Glass – In the absence of eyewitness, the broken glass can be mute
witness that can talk to unmask the driver and open out the mystery vehicle.

The Mark – It is now a settled fact that the pedestrian victim was run-over by
the car as established by the broken headlamp glass. That being the case, tire
marks can be lifted or collage on the clothing of the hit and run victim or on
the pavement to supplement and compliment previous findings.
Paint – The victim having been bumped by the car that resulted to his
instantaneous death, definitely left residues on the clothes or on the pavement
of car paints as a consequence of the collision.

Examination of the Recovered Vehicle in Case of Hit-and-Run Violation:

Once the suspected vehicle has been discovered, immediately steps

should be taken to recover any physical evidence that may have been carried
away from the scene or which maybe used in comparing fragments and debris
left at the scene of the accident.

The “damage scars” should be carefully measured as to width, depth,

and pattern. Photographs or casts should be made of special damage patters
on the body metal and later compared with those parts of the other vehicle
involved that were damage. Of course, special attention should be given to
paint transfer and chips as well as other material mentioned earlier. Adequate
samples must be taken for possible laboratory analysis.

The interior of the suspected vehicle should be inspected and particularly

attention given to evidence of the lose of blood of the suspected driver. All
evidence within that may established the identity of the driver and occupants
must be collected and preserved. Personal articles of any descriptions, papers,
finger prints, fiber hair, etc. should be retrieved and preserved for later use in
the identification processes.

Investigative Aid for the Traffic Accident Investigation:

There are many investigative aids which maybe applied in the search for
the suspected vehicles. Some of them are as follows:

1. Motor vehicle certificate of registration – In many states there are available

complete crossing-listing of registered motor vehicles by means of license
number, make, year model, color and registered owner or operator. If the
investigation has uncovered minimal data regarding the vehicle identification a
search of the registry will disclose the addresses of the registered owner of
operator of all local vehicles having these characteristics. If a partial plate
number has been obtained these maybe immediately eliminated and the
investigation maybe directed at the other remaining license data. The
addresses of the registered owner or operator maybe of great help since the
likelihood of the suspected vehicle seen at or near the scene of the accident is
greater possibilities than those of foreign vehicles.

2. Repair shops and garages – In many areas operators and employees of repair
shops and service stations are required to report all works performed on all
vehicles which sustained damages as a result of collision. In this case the
proper authorities can regularly monitor the vehicles suspected of being
involved in traffic accident hit-and-run violation. However, the number of this
establishments failed to report, so it is more rewarding than a regular
inspections in this establishment shall be given due considerations specially
for the period of time after the accident happened.

Occasionally, the suspected driver attempt to repair or replace the

damaged or lost parts of his vehicle himself to avoid detection. Because they
knew that it is a common knowledge that a repair shop proprietor will report all
such damage routinely to the police.

3. Department records – The investigator should examine all reported hit-and-

run accident violations filled within several days of occurrence of the accident
he is investigating. The information gathered in those reports relative to the
time, date, location, nature, damages and parties involved (vehicles), colors are
of a special interest. Of course, any alleged hit and run accident violation being
investigated could possibly be nothing more than a cover up attempt on the
part of the complainant and the accident reports filed prior to the event should
be examined as well.
 Reports of stolen vehicles filed after the time of the accident by alleging
the theft as having occurred prior to the accident should be very carefully
examined by the investigator.

Prosecution of Cases:

Traffic accident investigator has the sole responsibility in the filing of

cases to the proper authorities in case of Fatal and Non-fatal Accident
including hit-and-run. For Property Damage the filing is dependent upon the
discretion of the complaining party(either the complainant or the police
investigator) within one year from the date of the accident. In case of Death or
Physical Injury incurred during the Traffic Vehicular Accident whether regular
or hit and run investigation, upon the arrest of the accused he must be
delivered to the Proper Judicial Authorities within the prescribed period as
provided for under the law.

Held on Abeyance:

The filing of the case to the proper authorities can be held on abeyance
when the complaining party voluntarily requests the investigator to give them
(parties in the accident) time to come up with an amicable settlement.

However, the investigator must advice parties that after the lapse of time
requested they must have to inform the investigator for whatever agreement
entered into.

Further, with the investigator’s own discretion, he may file the case
immediately to the Proper Judicial Authorities and advice the parties if ever
desired, to settle the matter with the latter.

Court Duty:

Traffic accident investigator will be summoned to appear before the court

and there and then testify to the case he had investigated. The investigator
must be in complete police prescribed uniform. He must be fully aware of the
case in issue. During the trial, he will be subjected to a direct and cross
examination by the prosecution and the defense counsel.