LTO to enforce law on early warning devices starting March 1

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
February 14, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY – The Land Transportation Office in Eastern Visayas, starting March 1, 2013, will enforce the law that mandates drivers of public and private 4-wheeled vehicles to carry a pair of the prescribed standard early warning devices (EWD).

This was disclosed by LTO Regional Director Edgardo Catarongan during the Information campaign conducted on February 14 at the LTO Regional Office.

Dir. Catarongan said this was in line with nationwide directives, LOI 229 and Memorandum Circular No. VPT-2012-1609 dated December 13, 2011re: Revised Rules on the Implementation of the Early Warning Devices.

Director Catarongan appealed to owners of four-wheeled vehicles to begin acquiring the prescribed yellow and red triangles that are to be used as early warning devices in order to ensure the safety of road users, especially when vehicles that encounter trouble were forced to park alongside the road.

The LTO director noted that many vehicle owners do not have these objects in their driven units and it is a common site where owners or drivers of four-wheeled distressed vehicles parked alongside the road use other items such as broken tree branches as an early warning device.

The prescribed triangular early warning device will have to meet LTO standards and should pass inspection by the said agency, Director Catarongan said. A sticker shall be attached to the back to show that it had been approved by the LTO.

Catarongan underscored that under the Revised Rules on the Implementation of Early Warning Devices, the presentation of these accessories are not a requirement for motor vehicle registration but these should be presented during checkpoints upon demand by a deputized traffic law enforcer when apprehended for another offense.

People who fail to carry and present the EWDs would be fined and penalized for non-compliance, Director Catarongan said, even as he clarified that tricycles and motorcycles are exempted from such law.