LTFRB suspends 5 bus company units after EDSA accident

A Dela Rosa Transit passenger bus crushes a brand new Toyota Vios along EDSA Munoz (Top Gear PH Facebook page)

MANILA — Operations of five units of Dela Rosa Transit Corp. were suspended by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Friday after one of its buses figured in a road accident along EDSA on Thursday.

According to the board, a Dela Rosa Transit Corp. bus with plate number TYM-449 and body number 8806 en route to Monumento was reported over-speeding when it rear-bumped and then trampled a Toyota Vios with conduction sticker number YL-1942 along North EDSA, Quezon City.

The driver of the private car had to be quickly extricated to rush him to the hospital.

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez, in a statement, said that the board will not allow accidents like these to be unaccounted for.

“We continue to call on to bus operators to tell off their drivers to avoid reckless driving to prevent accidents or face the possible revocation of their franchises,” Ginez warned.

He said that to prevent other units of Dela Rosa Transit from committing the same recklessness, the board is issuing an order effectively suspending the operations of the bus companies’ five units for 30 days.

The bus company’s five units with the same route as the one involved in the EDSA accident have also been ordered grounded in their garage located at Sto. Domingo, Binan, Laguna.

LTFRB is also sending a team to confiscate the for-hire plates of the five buses of Dela Rosa Transit on February 9 (Monday).

Within 15 days, the bus company must bring all their units to the Motor Vehicle Inspection Service (MVIS) of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for inspection and determination of their road worthiness before they are again allowed to operate.

All the drivers of the units suspended must also undergo Road Safety Seminar conducted by the board or authorized training centers.

The bus company is given 72 hours to Show Cause in writing from the receipt of the order why their Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) should not be suspended, cancelled and/or revoked for violation of the terms and conditions of its franchise.

Representative of the bus company must also appear at the hearing of the case on Feb 11 (Wednesday) at 9:00 a.m. in the board’s main office.

Failure on the part of Dela Rosa Transport Inc. to appear before the board on the said date will be considered as a waiver on its part to be heard, and the case will be decided on the basis of the records held by the board.