‘60 Or 40 Kilometers Per Hour? Speed Limit In Effect Even Without Signage’
A 1964 law sets the speed limits on various types of roads in the country, while a 2019 Metro Manila Council resolution set the maximum speed limit in circumferential and radial roads in the region.
Even in the absence of road signs, speed limits will be strictly implemented, both the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have reminded motorists.
The problem is what the speed limit is exactly.
Along Roxas Boulevard, MMDA enforcers have started apprehending motorists who go over 60 kilometers per hour, and slapping fines of P1,000 per violation.
But under Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, the speed limit on through streets or boulevards “without blind corners” is 40 kph for passenger cars and motorcycles and 30 kph for trucks and buses.
RA 4136, passed way back in June 1964, also prohibits provincial, city or town government units from enacting ordinances or resolutions that would defy the speed limits set by the law.
For open country roads, RA 4136 caps speed limits at 80 and 50 kph, depending on the type of vehicle.
The speed limit for city and municipal roads is capped at 30 kph for all types of vehicles, while it is set at a very slow 20 kph for roads that see heavy foot traffic or have intersections.
The LTO said violators of speed limits would face fines of around P1,200 to P2,000, although physicians, ambulances, vehicles of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, fire trucks and law enforcers are allowed a leeway.
Local government units and other traffic law enforcement agencies also deployed more in-person traffic enforcers after the Supreme Court suspended the implementation of the no-contact apprehension policy or NCAP.
Retired colonel Edison Nebrija, MMDA’s task force special operations head, said the speed limit is necessary for the safety of motorists and pedestrians.
He added that with or without the road signs that would have correctly informed the public of the allowable speed limits, the law will still be enforced.
Nebrija, who clarified that the speed laws are enforced by another MMDA group, also cited MMDA Resolution 19-001 that sets a 60 kph speed limit in circumferential and radial roads like EDSA, Commonwealth Avenue and Roxas Boulevard.
He said motorists could always file a complaint if they want to question the apprehensions on speed limits.
