Warning devices for MMDA fences

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will soon be installing early warning devices (EWDs) on concrete barriers and pink fences along major roads and thoroughfares in the metropolis as part of the agency’s campaign to promote road safety.

The move seeks to and address the increasing number of vehicular accidents caused by their road infrastructure.

MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno said the agency’s concrete barriers are actually safe because they were designed and made according to international standards.

"That is why they (barriers) are painted with black and yellow so that it will be visible to motorists even at night," Nacianceno explained.

Still, Nacianceno said, the MMDA is determined to further promote road safety through the installation of EWDs, which can either be reflectors or blinking warning lights.

The MMDA, he pointed out, had tried reflectors in the past, but the devices often get stolen by unscrupulous individuals.

Nacianceno said they are more likely to consider blinking lights since they cannot be easily removed as the reflectors.

He stressed, however, that the safety of motorists still depends on responsible driving because accidents most often befalls those who are careless.

Reports from the MMDA-Road Safety and Accident Unit (MMDA-RSAU) revealed that a total of 621 accidents involving vehicles crashing into fixed objects along EDSA have been recorded from the period of June of 2004 to March of 2005 alone.

These incidents involve vehicles crashing into trees, electric posts MRT posts, steel railings or pink fences.

Of the number, 45 accidents were fatal, 168 caused extensive damage and 408 were considered minor.

The MMDA’s steel fences were erected along EDSA to prevent public utility buses (PUBs) from using the outer lanes, which are reserved for private vehicles.