Monday, September 08, 2008 Labella cautions public on vans
A CEBU City legislator reiterated the call he made in 2005 for traffic authorities to be extra watchful for trucks and trailers carrying container vans after an accident killed one and injured another in Consolacion town.
A container van recently fell from a prime mover, crashed on a multicab on the opposite lane, and pinned its driver to death.
Three passengers were also injured in the accident, which aggravated rush hour traffic in the northern town.
The truck driver said he avoided hitting a taxicab that suddenly cut him off by slamming on the brakes. It, however, caused the van to swing and fall on the multicab.
Proper procedure
City Councilor Edgardo Labella wondered if the van was properly latched unto the truck.
“Section 14, Article XXII of the Revised Traffic code of Cebu City prohibits the operation of a trailer truck carrying 10-, 20-, and 4-foot container vans without safety locking devices,” he said.
He said an unsecured container van is a “threat to public safety” because it might get thrown off or dislodged once a moving van suddenly stops, maneuvers around a bend, or negotiates a rough road.
Labella said he saw such a gruesome incident once in Manila.
He was concerned because with Christmas fast approaching, transport of goods using container vans is expected to rise in Cebu City, which is a “commercial and trading hub in this part of the country.”
Container vans are used by cargo forwarders to transport goods from local and international seaports.
Warning
December 2005, Labella issued a similar warning after he received reports on the “sudden upsurge” of trucks or trailers ferrying container vans that don’t have safety locking devices.
As early as 2001, the Cebu Port Authority supposedly banned defective cargo vehicles, or those having no twist locks on container vans, from the port area.
That was after two prime mover trucks at the Cebu International Port (CIP) figured in separate accidents in 2001 involving unsecured container vans.
In 2003, then Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 Director Alex Leyson said they would run after defective prime movers, trailers, and 10-wheeler trucks plying at the CIP, saying the agency does not want any more deaths from container vans that fall. (RHM)
