January-April: Bloody months for motorists

At least 22 die in Ilocos Norte
due to road accidents–INPPO

CAMP JUAN, Laoag City, June 4– At least 22 people died due to road accidents in Ilocos Norte during the period from January to April this year, the police authorities here reported.

Records of the Ilocos Norte police provincial office headed by Col. Cesar Pasiwen, police provincial director, showed that a total of 475 vehicular traffic incidents (VTI) occurred in the province during the same period.

Of the nearly 500 VTIs, 22 perished and 200 were injured compared to last year’s only six deaths recorded in the same period.

The scoreboard of the city and municipal police stations showed the following top five places with high VTIs in the aforesaid four months: Laoag City– 255, Batac City– 69, San Nicolas– 50, Bacarra– 49, and Dingras– 21.

On the other hand, the following are also the top five places with a record of fatalities in road accidents from January to April: Batac City– 4, Laoag City– 3, Bacarra– 3, San Nicolas– 3, and Vintar– 2.

Colonel Pasiwen said that with the opening of school classes this month of June, many students of minor age, who don’t have driver’s license or wear no crash helmet, may be driving motorcycles in going to the schools, hence, parents or guardians should not tolerate them to keep them away from any road accident.

To help prevent VTIs involving schoolchildren on wheels, the police authorities said they would conduct regular checkpoints on school routes as a deterrent of illegal driving by minor students. (b.r./tri-media report)