LTO issues show-cause order vs driver for busway counterflow

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has issued a show-cause order against a driver of a sport utility vehicle caught going against the flow of traffic along the EDSA Bus Carousel lane in Guadalupe, Makati on July 28.

The LTO’s show-cause order directs the motorist to explain why he should not be penalized for the incident.

The motorist was seen in viral videos driving a Subaru vehicle with license plate WNO 883.

The Department of Transportation’s Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT), in a statement issued yesterday, said the motorist – who was not identified – drove backward slowly when he encountered an ES Transport bus traveling north along the busway.

An ambulance was stuck behind the passenger bus, as seen on a video posted by SAICT on Facebook.

According to another video, this one from Facebook page Jhong’s TV, the motorist drove close to the bus before moving backward.

The 38-year-old driver explained to SAICT enforcers from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority that he came from a “gimmick” and “mistook an open busway barrier as a U-turn slot.”

The enforcers “escorted the drunk driver to his condo residence in Taguig City to prevent any further accident,” the SAICT reported.

The enforcers issued the motorist traffic violation tickets for reckless driving and illegal counterflow.

The driver was fined P1,000 for reckless driving and P2,000 for the illegal counterflow.