In promoting road safety advocacy, Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) recently conducts series of road safety seminars to more than 100 girl and boy scouts students (from the 3rd, 5th and 6th grades) at the San Beda College in Alabang. The students learned coping with the increasing risks students face on the road daily, and how they can share the knowledge to their schoolmates.
MDPPA pointed out that young pedestrians field of vision is limited compared to adults owing to their short height. This, and some other factors cited on different studies, increase children’s risks for being involved in road accidents.
During the seminar, the scouts learned how to properly cross the street with or without traffic lights, and what to do to ensure safety when walking down the street or doing outdoor activities. The MDPPA team also discussed road visibility during bad weather, and drivers’ blind spot, and how to be more attentive during these situations.
MDPPA Road Safety Vice Chairman Magnus Mateo, said, “Road accidents involving kids are increasing by the day, and that is alarming. Streets are like jungles and those are dangerous to kids unless they are properly educated.”
“We hope this effort will inspire teachers to develop a course of study that will incorporate road safety awareness,” Mateo added.
According to report of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)-Road Safety Unit, there are total of 262 average of accident per day—with 235 pedestrians, 232 drivers and 69 passengers involved in fatal deaths—from January to December 2015. The highest fatality accident rate were recorded by motorcycles with 262 fatalities, followed by trucks with 129 and cars with 125 total. The majority of these occurred between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., while the remaining occurred between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Statistics also show that these accidents happen mostly on national roads, expressways, and city roads.
At present, MDPPA has been conducting road safety seminars in different schools since 2013, and has trained around 300 students all over the country about street safety.