Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) — Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito is pushing for mandatory riders’ education and a master plan for safer roads amid the alarming rise in motorcycle accidents in the country.
The lawmaker made the recommendations after authorities reported 4,029 motorcycle accidents from January to April this year, almost half of the 8,342 incidents reported in 2022.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Tuesday, Ejercito said he refiled in the 19th Congress his bill seeking mandatory riders’ education before being allowed to purchase a motorcycle.
Ejercito also said he is pushing for a master plan that will ensure safer roads for motorists. Instead of allowing bicycles along major roads like EDSA, these should be transferred to secondary lanes, he noted.
“Our roads are narrower and it was not really designed for bike lanes and it only came about during the pandemic,” he added. “Now that the MRT is back to normal, the buses are there, public utility vehicles, I think that the bicycle lanes, although I’m a biker, should be confined to the secondary streets.”
Ejercito said authorities can experiment on the use of the right most lane along EDSA currently dedicated for bicycle riders.
