NO VIOLATORS of the Anti-Distracted Driving Act (Adda) in Davao Region will be apprehended yet as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will first focus on information dissemination campaign about the new law, an LTO-Davao official said.
Adda was implemented Thursday, July 6, after its amended implementing rules and regulations (IRR) was released.
Benjamin Antonio, chief of law enforcement unit of LTO-Davao, said they will not apprehend yet Adda violators in the region since they are still in the process of their information drive to educate the public on the provisions of the law.
“For LTO, we will focus first on info drive to give awareness to Dabawenyos,” he said.
He added that there is no directive yet from LTO-National Office on when to start the enforcement against erring motorists.
The new law seeks to address the prevalent cases of road accidents and promotes road safety among motorist.
The revised IRR of Adda prohibits the use of any mobile communication devices and electronic entertainment gadgets to write, send or read a text, make or receive calls, play games, watch movies, and surf the internet while the vehicle is in motion or stopping at a red light or intersection.
Adda was suspended last May because some senators were confused of its rules and it became controversial after the proponents banned the display of accessories deemed distracting such as bobble heads, rosaries, and figurines on vehicle dashboards.
The violators of the law will be penalized with P5,000 fine for the first offense, P10,000 for the second offense and P15,000 with a three-month suspension of the driver’s license for the third offense.
Violations incurred beyond the third offense shall be penalized with the revocation of the driver’s license and a fine of P20,000.