Who's liable for the mud on the road?
All of the activity on the construction sites can quickly make the metro roads muddy, particularly if it rains.
This mud can get in between the double rear tires of the hauling trucks and the heavy equipment tracks, which with the lack of any washing bay in the site, will be dropped all over the public highway. This mud will not only be a nuisance for other road users as it makes the road bumpy when it dries, but more seriously, will create a slippery road as the mud brings about a loss of traction which affects steering and braking. This has the potential to cause serious road accidents as motorists lose control, especially motorcycles.
This brings us to the question of who is liable.
Truck Operators (the truck driver and the truck owner specifically) are legally obliged to clear up mud and debris before they leave a site. They are potentially liable for a multiply offenses if they fail to do so. While there is a range of powers available to the police, primarily the barangay and the local police, the primary powers are assigned to the highway patrol under the Philippine Highway Act of 1953.
Construction Site Contractors are also liable for the dirt that gets transferred from their site to the public roads. Their duty does not rest on safeguarding the health and safety of the people in the site, but also towards the general public who may be affected by their operations. This means that action needs to be taken to prevent mud or other debris from leaving the construction site and getting onto the public road.
Often this will take the form of a pit located in the exit of the site where trucktires and underchassis power washers are installed to wash-off mud and debris. This system, which vehicles leaving the site need to pass through before exiting, should be required by the Office of the Building Official before any construction or dumping site is proposed and permits issued.
The Metro may also employ road sweeper vehicles or personnel to clean the road of anything that gets onto it, maybe through the barangay. The barangay, in turn, will need to charge cleaning fees to the site owner or contractor.
Mud and the associated risks to motorists are not the only reasons for ensuring vehicle tires and underchassisare clean. Depending upon the nature of the site and the substances being used, vehicles leaving the site may also have hazardous material or chemicals on them which could be deposited on the road, creating an environmental health and safety issue.
Although prevention is far more preferable than cleaning, it might be impossible as construction is part of the Metro's development and Cebu is developing at a rapid pace. Making guidelines and strictly enforcing them will surely lessen the inconvenience and the risk of accidents to the general motorist.
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