Number of car crashes on expressways increasing over 3 years

The number of accidents in expressways has been increasing over the past three years, statistics from the Toll Regulatory Board have indicated.

According to the TRB, the number of road crashes in eight expressways rose by almost 60 percent from 2016 to 2018.

From January to September this year, a total of 9,166 accidents were reported in the eight expressways.

In comparison, there was a total of 5,818 expressway road accidents from January to September in 2016 and 7,960 in the same period in 2017.

The TRB data cover incidents in Manila-CaviteExpressway (CavitEx), Metro Manila Skyway, Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx).

 

34 expressway accidents a day

The 9,166 expressway accidents from January to September this year is equivalent to almost 34 expressway road crashes a day.

With an average of 13 road crashes daily so far this year, Skyway had the most number of road crashes among the eight expressways.

From January to September 2018, a total of 3,493 accidents were reported in Skyway, the 30-kilometer highway in southern Metro Manila. Skyway accidents are increasing: the number of accidents this year is more than triple the 1,042 accidents in the first three quarters of 2016. Crash data for Skyway cover both the elevated and at-grade portion of the tollway.

NLEx had the second most number of road crashes this year with a total of 2,796 or an average of 10 accidents a day. Every year since 2016, NLEx is the only expressway with more than 2,600 reported road crashes. It is also the second longest toll road in the country at 83 kilometers long.

 

Accident rate

Skyway was also on top in terms of accident rate or the number of accidents per 1,000 vehicles. It had 19 accidents per 1,000 vehicles from January to September this year. NLEx and TPLEx were tied for second place, each had 11 accidents per 1,000 vehicles during the same period.

Deaths and injuries
NLEx had the most number of fatalities and injuries among the expressways from January to
September this year, TRB data show. Road crashes along tollways from January to
September 2018 claimed a total of 51 lives. A third of these fatalities died in NLEx.
NLEx consistently had the most number of expressway accident fatalities since 2016. Of the
182 people killed in tollway crashes since 2016, 1 in 3 fatalities was from NLEx accidents.

 

A total of 2,371 were wounded in road crashes along the expressways from January to September 2018. TRB data show that 47 percent of these injuries were sustained in NLEx.

Of the 7,724 injuries reported in expressways from 2016 to September 2018, nearly half were from NLEx accidents.

 

—NB, GMA News