The Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced on Thursday that it would raise the difficulty level of its driving test for motorcycle riders following the incident on the Marikina-Rizal-Laguna-Quezon (Marilaque) Highway.
This decision was prompted by the accident in Marilaque, where two riders performing stunts collided with each other and hit bystanders.
“Nakita natin ‘pag kumukuha ng practical test sa LTO, in some places, atras-abante lang ang sasakyan, pasado na. This is something na we would like to higpitan ang practical testing kasi hindi talaga nagagawa,” LTO chief Vigor D. Mendoza II said.
The transportation agency added that it has identified areas for practical driving courses.
“We’ll try to target the major cities immediately. Siguro in the next 45 days, ma-set up na ‘yung facilities. So next time, yung mga kumukuha ng lisensya after 45 days, they will really pass through practical driving first. Hindi na pwedeng atras-abante lang,” he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
Mendoza mentioned that the LTO is still investigating the cause of the Marilaque accident.
The LTO also proposed that road safety education be introduced before students obtain their student licenses to ensure they understand what to do — and what not to do — on the road.
“Maaga pa lang ma-mo-mold natin iyung pag-iisip ng tao, na yung attitude nila in terms of driving, commuter responsibility, maganda simulan talaga maaga. We intend to push that further and hopefully we will be able to convince DepEd na baka puwedeng isama sa curriculum,” Mendoza said.