Ley 5 del 2007
Resumen
Esta ley enmienda la "Puerto Rico Vehicle and Traffic Act" para requerir que ciertos vehículos pesados, incluyendo camiones, autobuses y vehículos del gobierno, exhiban un sticker en la parte trasera con un número de teléfono para reportar conducción negligente. El incumplimiento conlleva una multa administrativa de cincuenta (50) dólares.
Contenido
(No. 5)
(Approved February 2, 2007)
AN ACT
To add a Section 21.06 to Act No. 22 of January 7, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Vehicle and Traffic Act," in order to provide that it shall be the obligation of every owner of a truck, carriage, heavy vehicle, public, private or school omnibus, semitrailer, tractor or trailer, automobile transport van and motor or heavy vehicle, property of the Government of Puerto Rico, the municipalities and the private sector, to attach on the rear part of said vehicle a sticker with visible lettering stating the telephone number to be called to give notice in case any of said vehicles is driven negligently, and to impose penalties.
STATEMENT OF MOTIVES
Statistical data collected by the Traffic Safety Commission published in the annual report entitled "Our Vehicles and Highways," indicate that an average of 281, 547 collisions take place annually in Puerto Rico, which in turn cause an average of 46,815 injured persons and 527 deaths. These statistics show that a traffic accident occurs on our Island every 2.0 minutes, a person is inured in a collision every 22.5 minutes and a citizen dies in a traffic accident every 21.8 hours. Actions that may be attributed to the human factor account for 95% of the collisions; caused mainly by driving over the speed limit, as well as by driving negligently, failing to take into
consideration the road conditions and driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs.
It is mandatory to raise awareness in our society about the incidence of traffic accidents directly caused by negligent driving, especially those accidents involving larger vehicles with greater horse power. We must prevent innocent victims from losing their lives due to the negligence of others and treat those cases energetically and forcibly with actions that discourage such conduct.
As a measure for discouraging the negligent use of vehicles we propose that it shall be the obligation of every owner of a truck, carriage, heavy vehicle, public, private or school omnibus, semi-trailer, tractor or trailer, automobile transport van and motor or heavy vehicle, property of the Government of Puerto Rico, the municipalities and the private sector, to attach on the rear part of said vehicle a sticker with visible lettering stating the telephone number to be called to give notice of such a fact, since those vehicles are often driven with clear disregard for the lives of other drivers and citizens, thus constituting an imminent danger with a high probability of causing a fatal accident.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:
Section 1.-A Section 21.06 is hereby added to Act No. 22 of January 7, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Vehicle and Traffic Act," to read as follows: "Section 21.06.-Sticker with information for calling when negligent driving is observed.-
It shall be the obligation of every owner of a truck, carriage, heavy vehicle, public, private or school omnibus, semi-trailer, tractor or trailer, automobile transport van and motor or heavy vehicle, property of the
Government of Puerto Rico, the municipalities and the private sector, to attach on the rear part of said vehicle a sticker with visible lettering stating the telephone number to be called to give notice in case any of said vehicles is driven negligently. It is further provided that noncompliance with the above provision shall be deemed to be an administrative fault that shall entail a fine of fifty (50) dollars."
Section 2.-This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 5 (H.B. 2172) of the $5^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $15^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to add a Section 21.06 to Act No. 22 of January 7, 2000, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Vehicle and Traffic Act," in order to provide that it shall be the obligation of every owner of a truck, carriage, heavy vehicle, public, private or school omnibus, semi-trailer, tractor or trailer, automobile transport van and motor or heavy vehicle, property of the Government of Puerto Rico, the municipalities and the private sector, to attach on the rear part of said vehicle a sticker with visible lettering stating the telephone number to be called to give notice in case any of said vehicles is driven negligently, and to impose penalties, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $30^{ ext {th }}$ of March of 2007.
Francisco J. Domenech Director