THE estimated amount of damages incurred from vehicular accidents from January to November this year almost reached P20 million, according to a report by the police’s Investigative and Detective Management Branch (IDMB).
The P20-million estimated damage involved 7,689 different types of vehicles that injured 2,053 individuals, the IDMB report said.
It added that this year, there are 3,940 pending cases on vehicular accidents.
The month of July 2013 topped with the estimated damage amounting to more than P2 million and involving 869 vehicles, in which 136 were motorcycles and 198 were cars.
The same report showed that car accidents are still on top, constituting 22 percent of all reported accidents, followed by motorcycle accidents with 20 percent.
Also in July, 359 vehicle-to-vehicle accidents were reported, injuring 175 individuals and with one death. The pending cases in the same month alone totaled to 406.
Motorcycle accidents
From January to November, the reported motorcycle accidents in Cagayan de Oro City reached 1,509, and this nearly equaled the car accidents that totaled 1,685.
Celerina Pol, IDMB assistant administrative officer, said the amount of motorcycle accidents in Cagayan de Oro City is a result of the increasing number of motorcycles.
She said most of the drivers involved in the motorcycle accidents were youth who usually drove when drunk.
Pol said most deaths involved in accidents usually happened at night because drivers are inclined to speed up during those hours.
Accidents
Pol said the cases that are solved by their office come with an agreement with the parties involved.
“Instead of hiring an attorney to file charges, most parties would agree for indemnification instead of paying for a lawyer,” said Pol.
She added that some accidents reported to their office would peter out, as parties involved had disappeared long before the police reached the site.
Pol blamed the undisciplined drivers to have caused most of the road mishaps.
She said the drivers failed to follow road signs and traffic laws.
Other causes of the accidents, she added, were “beating the red light” and the refusal to yield to other motorists.