Following two tragic roadside accidents and several road rage incidents, DoTR Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered LTO for the automatic license suspension of drivers that are caught on camera committing violations.

With Dizon’s orders, those caught on camera–specifically through social media–violating road rules will have their license suspend automatically for 90 days without any investigation and without any hearing. Dizon adds that as long as they see solid evidence of abusive drivers, their license will face automatic suspension for 90 days.

Senator Francis Escudero agrees with this, and adds that those involved in road rage and vehicular crashes should have their licenses revoked. “To ensure that our roads are safe from these motorists, their licenses should be revoked, not suspended. We need to have order on our roads. The lack of discipline among our motorists has become a serious issue. Drastic measures should be taken to restore order,” Escudero adds.

While the idea looks good on paper to make drivers behave on the road, we have concerns for this. Since Dizon mentioned social media, it can be hard to verify the authenticity of videos posted–some may be manipulated, and some may only show one side of the story. But with the DoTR suspending the licenses of several erring drivers that appear on road rage videos, it might be the best approach right now to keep our roads safe with the power of citizen journalism.

Aside from this move, Dizon is thinking of bringing back NCAP (No Contact Apprehension Policy) to make up for the lack of manpower, but it needs to be studied carefully.  The controversial traffic policy was suspended in 2022, and there are debates regarding its legality.