Police reports in ‘sagi-an’ not always needed

I DRIVE around Metro Manila and I can’t help but notice choke points frequently developing along the way, which are not supposed to be there normally. In seven out of 10 instances, they are just due to fender-benders or sagi-an! While waiting for a traffic law enforcer to show up to investigate, the parties involved refuse to move their cars out of the way.

In one of those times, I actually got out of my car to check what was going on. I found out the cause of the stalemate: The parties involved thought that a “police report” was required to file an insurance claim. And given the hours it was taking a traffic investigator to come, traffic practically stood still just as long. It turned out that their cars were covered by the same insurance company as mine. I then informed them that all they needed to do was to make an affidavit narrating what happened which they could submit to the insurance company later.

I told them I could help them with that affidavit pro bono and gave them my number and e-mail address. To cut to the chase, they exchanged information about their driver’s licenses, telephone numbers, car registrations and insurance policies, and then parted ways without waiting anymore for any investigator. Traffic got flowing again in less than 10 minutes!

From the experience of many people and my own, a great deal of these traffic incidents can be dealt with more quickly. There are insurance companies that no longer require that accursed “police report”—only an affidavit and pictures. Their standard policies cover “own damage” and damage to the other vehicle.

I am in no way connected with any such insurance company, except for the fact that all the cars of my family and friends are now covered by such policies. E-mail me if you still don’t know which companies I am talking about. This is really one huge way to help minimize traffic jams and save motorists precious time.

—STEPHEN L. MONSANTO, Monsanto Law Office, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, [email protected]