Toll body to review Skyway design, records after bus crash

The design, history and maintenance record of the South Metro Manila Skyway will be reviewed, the Toll Regulatory Board said Monday, after a passenger bus fell from the roadway killing at least 18 people. 

 

The fatal incident before sunrise Monday is the fourth since October 2006 involving vehicles that sped off the Skyway and dropped on the road below.

 

In an interview with GMA News' Ian Cruz, TRB executive director Atty. Edmund Reyes said in a report on the late evening newscast "Saksi" that  the probe will “revisit the design” of the Skyway to check for any problems. 

The review will also cover the roadway's history and maintenance works.
 

Reyes also said the TRB will take also review the recommendation of the Highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police, which said buses should not be allowed to run on the elevated sections of the Skyway considering the previous serious mishaps.

 

In October 2006, a sports utility vehicle crushed a passenger jeepney after falling on it at the Skyway's Magallanes section.

 

In January 2007, an armored van fell on a car at the Pasay Road portion of the Skyway.

 

In July 2011, a Dimple Star Transport bus also fell from the Skyway but did not hit any other vehicle.

 

Skyway O&M Corp. (SOMCO), operator of the elevated roadway, said in an undated post on its website that it “is now warning drivers of buses and trucks not to use the leftmost or passing lane of its 13.5-km. at-grade road section from Magallanes to Alabang and its 16.4-km. elevated tollway.”

 

The website cited the Limited Access Highway Act (Republic Act 2000), which provides that trucks, buses and slow-moving vehicles are not allowed on the leftmost lane at all times.

 

The Skyway operator said it sought the support of several bus operators in the enforcement of the “off-limits to buses and trucks” rule. It claimed the coordination with the bus lines has been going on since December 2012.


 

Overspeeding motorists
 

On the Skyway, the maximum speed limit for buses is 80 kilometers per hour (kph). For cars and jeeps, it is 100 kph,while for all other vehicles, it is 60 kph.

 

SOMCO also said in another post dated March 19, 2012 that most of the speeding violators on the Skyway and South Luzon Expressway are buses.

 

“During the initial four (4) days of the speed limit operations at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and at the Skyway System,  434 overspeeding motorists were apprehended while 44 were given stern warning.  It was observed that the most number of overspeeding vehicles at SLEX were buses while more overspeeding cars than buses were spotted at the Skyway System.”

 

SOMCO said that from March 1 to 4 , its traffic enforcers “apprehended 85 car drivers and 81 bus drivers.”

 

The SOMCO website did not have traffic violations data for other time periods.

Fatigue

In an interview with GMA News, Padios said the conductor and driver had already gotten off a shift at 12 midnight, but they still chose to go on the road again at 3 a.m.

The bus jumped off the Skyway and fell on the service road below after 5 a.m. and crushed a closed van.  — ELR, GMA News