The Land Transportation Office - National Capital Region reported Sunday that its intensified campaign against traffic violators is making significant progress, with nearly 3,500 motorists apprehended in February.

LTO-NCR Regional Director Roque "Rox" I. Verzosa III revealed that, according to the latest data from the LTO-NCR Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) led by Rocilyn Villaruel, the Law Enforcement Unit and Law Enforcement Team apprehended 3,447 motorists in February for various traffic law violations.

Of the total, 2,026 motorists were apprehended for violating Republic Act (RA) No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code. This includes 301 cases involving unregistered motor vehicles, in line with the "No Registration, No Travel" policy.

Verzosa, however, noted that the majority of the apprehended motorists, totaling 591, were caught for driving motor vehicles with defective accessories, devices, equipment, or parts. Other significant violations included driving while wearing slippers (314), failure to carry OR/CR while driving a motor vehicle (225), reckless driving (126), and driving without a valid driver's license (89).

In the same period, 1,009 motorists were apprehended for not using seat belt devices, a violation under RA 8750. Furthermore, 391 motorists received penalties for not wearing the standard protective motorcycle helmet (RA 10054), 15 for non-compliance with the Children Safety on Motorcycle law (RA 10666), and six for violations of the Anti-Distracted Driving Act (RA 10913).

Moreover, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) apprehended 587 motorists for violating RA 8794, also known as the Anti-Overloading Act, while the Philippine National Police (PNP) took action against 69 individuals for violating RA 10054 and 130 others for various infractions during the same period.

Verzosa emphasized that these operations will persist throughout the year.

"Expect LTO-NCR to consistently enforce traffic laws for the safety of our motorists," he stressed.

The LTO official also mentioned that the activities were conducted under the guidance of Transportation Secretary Jaime "Jimmy" J. Bautista and LTO chief, Assistant Secretary, Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II.