[ Courtesy of //politics.com.ph ]
The Senate approved on third and final
reading today a Senate bill, which prohibits use of cellular phones and other
mobile communications device while driving a motor vehicle.
Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, principal
author of Senate Bill 3211, says there is a need to regulate usage of
electronic devices among drivers, impose discipline among motorists, and
proscribe distracted driving in order to promote road safety.
The chamber’s passage of the bill
coincides with the observance of the Land Transportation Safety and Accident
Prevention Month this May in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 115-A
(1966).
The legislative proposal declares the
following acts in a moving vehicle, whether diplomatic, public or private, as
unlawful: 1) use of mobile communications device, including cellular phones,
wireless telephones, two-way radio transceivers, pagers, among others, to
write, send, or read a text-based communication or to make or receive calls;
and 2) using an electronic entertainment or computing device, including laptop
computers, tablets, video game consoles, among others, to play games, watch
movies, surf the internet, compose messages, read e-books, perform calculations
and other similar acts.
Whoever violates these provisions shall
be penalized with a fine of 5,000 pesos for the first offense, a fine of 10,000
pesos for the second offense, and a fine of 15,000 pesos and a three-month
suspension of the driver’s license for the third offence.
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