Roadworthiness must be based on vehicle condition, not age.
This was the pronouncement of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Martin Delgra III after revealing plans to consider Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) in assessing public transport vehicles in the country.
The vehicle inspection system was brought up after the recent bus collision involving bus units of Davao Metro Shuttle and Bachelor Tours which killed seven people.
According to Delgra, the LTFRB is currently adapting the Vehicle Age Policy which means units older than 15 years are considered non-roadworthy and can no longer allowed be deployed.
“Road crashes is one aspect that we are looking into, because road worthiness more than just the number of age,” Delgra said.
He said that the agency plans to procure MVIS as part of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) modernization program.
“We need to adapt a new system. Because our basis on the roadworthiness of these vehicles are only visual,” Delgra said.
The new inspection system will give a more comprehensive and accurate measure on the vehicle’s roadworthiness as it will be determined through a computer machine.
MVIS will have a 60-point inspection points, from the reliability of the steering wheel down to underchasis. Delgra said that once MVIS will be fully implemented, the vehicle age policy will be scrapped.
LTFRB recently suspended local bus company Davao Metro Shuttle after the incident that killed seven people including their own driver. Delgra insisted that their agency did not lack in monitoring not only with ‘colorum’ buses, but also with the roadworthiness of buses of regular franchisees from garage to bus terminals.
