DAVAO CITY – The city government will be cracking down on jaywalkers beginning Dec. 1, the City Transport and Traffic Management Office said.
In a telephone interview, CTTMO chief Rhodelio Poliquit said that apprehensions will be done via the release of temporary operating permits to erring pedestrians.
Covered by the jaywalking ordinance are pedestrians who do not use designated crosswalks or lanes, including pedestrian overpasses.
According to Poliquit, the penalties range from a fee of P100 for the first offense up to four hours of community service.
In an earlier interview, Poliquit said that the community service will be coursed through the City Social Services and Development Office.
The campaign against jaywalking comes as one of the priority areas of Mayor Sara Z. Duterte’s administration.
According to a policy document, the city government will be pushing for harsher measures against undisciplined pedestrians who tend to ignore pedestrian lanes.
In the city, pedestrian lanes receive little value especially with slow vehicle speed limits of only 30 kph in the downtown streets.
However, accidents still happen.
The city’s traffic code, meanwhile, penalizes passengers who alight or board public utility jeepneys and taxis in prohibited areas.
Poliquit said there were a lot of incidents where the driver was the one penalized for dropping passengers outside designated stops even if it was the passengers’ fault.
“We want to change that,” Poliquit said.
The CTTMO chief said pedestrians should also be as responsible as the motorists and observe traffic rules.
The move is part of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio’s “Byaheng Do30” initiative.