Many of us have been driving for quite some time now and many Filipino drivers are actually very adept in driving in here in the Philippines. We have actually gotten so skilled that we can almost imitate driver stunts seen on movies as many taxis, jeepneys, and other public utility vehicles (PUV) are doing. But satire aside while many drivers are proficient a lot of them lack knowledge about road and traffic rules (batas trapiko) and this is the reason why you see a lot of PUVs and even private vehicles drive recklessly.
Hopefully it changes as we move forward into a better future with better and stricter law implementation. We’ve seen a lot of changes already and it’s really good to see that traffic rules and laws are starting to get strictly implemented. Because if this our responsibility as drivers to know and abide by it must be reinforced. To do that knowing about speed limits in major expressways and major roads is a good start.
Speed limit refers to both maximum and minimum speeds allowed in a road. Both of them are critical and must be observed because driving beyond maximum and minimum are both dangerous to the driver and to other road users as well.
Below are the speed limits imposed in the country’s major expressways.
In Cavitex (Cavite Expressway), NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), SLEX (South Luzon Expressway), Skyway, and STAR Tollway, the minimum speed for all vehicles is 60kph; the maximum speed limit for cars is 100kph; and the maximum speed limit for buses and trucks is 80kph.
In SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) and TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway), the minimum speed for all vehicles is 60kph and the maximum speed for all vehicles is 100kph.
In commonwealth the maximum speed limit is 60kph while the minimum speed limit is not yet clearly defined within Republic Act 4136.
In EDSA the maximum speed limit is actually 40kph and 30kph for trucks and buses as is stated in RA 4136, while the minimum speed limit is yet to be stated (hopefully soon) in the Republic Act.
Right now every motorist adheres to the maximum speed limit in EDSA during the day and especially during rush hours as it is usually not possible to reach the speed of 20kph consistently due to heavy nose-to-tail traffic. If traffic flows are heavy in rush hour then it may not be possible to reach the minimum speeds consistently due to congestion, whereas in the middle of the night traffic is light and it’s possible for drivers to overspeed in EDSA
Carlos is a digital marketing and lead generation expert who has helped advocate driver education websites since 2012.