Luxury car driver who used EDSA bus lane ignores summons anew, says LTO

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will issue a resolution against the driver of a sports car for using the EDSA bus lane last week.

This came after the motorist did not show up at the LTO’s Intelligence and Investigation Division (LTO-IID) for the second time.

“In the interest of justice and the LTO’s strict adherence to proper legal procedure, we have extended all possible leeway for the driver/owner to explain why the violation was committed. Since there was failure to do so, we have no recourse but to apply the law,” LTO Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz said in a statement.

To recall, the agency issued a show cause order last week to summon the sports car’s driver, but he did not appear at the LTO office earlier this week.

This prompted the agency to issue another show cause order, with a hearing that was supposed to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The EDSA bus lane is for the exclusive use of public utility buses (PUBs), ambulances, and marked government vehicles in cases of emergency.

With this, LTO-IID chief Renan Melitante said that they will recommend a 90-day suspension for the driver's license.

Militante added that an alert out on the sports car remains, noting that the vehicle's registration will not be able to be renewed until the driver shows up and explains their actions.

Guadiz, meanwhile, believed that the sports car’s driver was given due process and an opportunity to explain, and that the LTO will decide based on the evidence.

“Let this case also serve as an example that the LTO will not tolerate violations against traffic laws that were put in place for the safety of everyone, especially now that the country is still in a state of national health emergency. We hope that other drivers out there who may think of doing the same thing in the future will rethink their actions,” he said. — Mel Matthew Doctor/BM, GMA News