‘No drug test, no driving policy’ mulled for bus drivers
THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will study how it could implement the “no drug test, no driving policy,” which President Rodrigo Duterte recommended for bus drivers.
“The board will study the policy further because drug testing is not yet mandatory for all public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers as of now,” LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada told reporters in a text message.
“We will see how this could be implemented not only for PUV’s but for all drivers as well,” Lizada said.
Duterte, in a speech in Cebu last Thursday, said that bus drivers should undergo drug tests before plying their routes to minimize road accidents.
“All bus drivers, before departing for long travels, should undergo a drug test. If there is an accident, they will say that the break is broken even if it is not. But it is really running at a high speed which causes the break to get broken,” he said.
Duterte also urged having an alternate driver as “having only one driver for the entire trip is no longer allowed.”
Lizada said that Memorandum Circular 2017-012 has been issued mandating operators to have alternate drivers during long travels.
“Each driver only has a six-hour limit in continuous trips. It the trip exceeds six hours, there must be an alternate driver and it should not be the conductor, she added.
Those who fail to comply with the order will be fined P5,000 for first offense; P10,000 and a 30-day suspension of franchise for second offense; and suspension for sixty days for third offense. GLEE JALEA
The post ‘No drug test, no driving policy’ mulled for bus drivers appeared first on The Manila Times Online.