TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT MODULE

CHAPTER 10
SPECIAL TRAFFIC INVESTIGATION

Objectives:
• Develop understanding in Special Traffic Investigation.
• What is Carnapping?
• The Drunken Driver.

ANTI-CARNAPPING:

Unless the car of the future can talk when stolen, or a car can selfheal collision,
then this chapter has no relevance to be written But, this beguiling vision is at odds with
reality, for a legion of carnapping incidents worldwide is on the rise and continue on its
ascendancy, either for gain or by design.

This is the tragedy confronting traffic investigator under the motorhanasia age, he
is blamed if carnappers remain unchecked and uncaught, although the increase in the
incident is not of his own making but abetted by bureaucracy's structural weakness This
comes to mind the Statement of US President Reagan in 1981, "Government is not the
solution to our problem, " he stressed," government is the problem "

To shatter the illusion of invincibility of carnappers They should be doggedly fought

and defeated in their turf before they become hardened into an indestructible criminal
dynamo. A stratagem that finds support in the mainstream of the populace and can easily
command conformity or silent consent.

Therefore, to wage a war and win against this social Scourge, traffic investigators
must be a unique breed or mortal with a higher plateau of understanding but with the firm
resolve to uphold road order. In sum, to win the battle, traffic man cannot remain pygmies,
in the game of giants.

CARNAPPING - is the taking with intent to gain, of a motor vehicle belonging to another
without the latter's consent, or using violence against or intimidation of person, or by using
force upon things (Section 2, Republic Act # 6539)

CARNAPPING: ELEMENTS

1. That the offender must have taken a motor vehicle belonging to another.

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2. That the taking is with intent to gain.

3. That the motor vehicle was taken without the consent of the owner;
4. That the taking is by means of violence against or intimidation of person or using
of force upon things (People vs. Niza, CR-00245)

DEFACING OR TAMPERING WITH - A serial number is the erasing, scratching, tearing,

or changing of the original factory inscribed serial number on the motor vehicle engine,
engine block, or chassis of any motor vehicle. Whenever any motor vehicle is found to
have a serial number on its motor vehicle engine, engine block or chassis which is
different from that which is listed in the records of the Bureau of Custom for motor vehicles
imported into the Philippines. that motor vehicle shall be considered to have a defaced or
tampered with serial number.

REPAINTING - is changing the color of a motor vehicle by means of painting. There is

repainting, whenever the new color of a motor vehicle is different from its color as
registered in the Land Transportation Office.

ACTS CONSIDERED CARNAPPING:

• When motor vehicle engine blocks and chases are not registered with the Land
Transportation Office (LTO) shall be considered as untaxed importation or coming
from an illegal source or carnapped, and shall be confiscated in favor of the
government, Section 3, RA 0539
• When a motor vehicle is assembled and rebuilt or repaired by replacement with
motor vehicle engines, engine block and chassis not registered with Land
Transportation Office (LTO) shall not be issued a certificate of registration and shall
be considered as an untaxed imported vehicle or motor vehicle carnapped or
proceeding from an illegal source, Section 5. RA 6539
• Defacing or tampered with serial numbers of motor vehicle engines, engine blocks,
and chassis, perforce constitute carnapping It shall be unlawful for any person to
deface or otherwise, tamper with the original or registered serial numbers of motor
vehicle engine, engine blocks, and chassis, Section 12, RA 6539
• When a person takes a motor vehicle with intent to gain, belonging to another
without the latter's consent, by means of violence or intimidation of persons, or by
using force upon thing is perforce carnapping, Section 2, RA 6539.

MOTOR VEHICLE USED IN THE CRIME: (EFFECTS)

1. Motor vehicles would be an aggravating circumstance if the crime were committed

by means thereof. People vs Canial, 46 SCRA 634.

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2. The use of the motor vehicle is not aggravating where there is no showing that the
same was purposely used to facilitate the commission of the crime. People vs.
Tingson, 47 SCRA 243.
3. Nocturnity and use of a motor vehicle are aggravating in the commission of the
theft. People vs. Jaranilla, 55 SCRA 563.

CARNAPPER'S HAVEN

• Public parking place

• Eateries parking space
• Valet parking area
• While parked along the roadside
• At pay parking zone
• Open car garage
• When minutes left unattended by the rover

CARNAPPER'S MODUS OPERANDI: (WHILE PARKED)

• By the use of a false key to open the door

• By diamond cutter on the glass window
• By U-magnet to unlock the door
• By battery-operated penetrator to blast keyhole
• By outstripping rubber around glass windshield
• By high-tech method: can pry open even magic keyhole
• Under the guise of using tow-truck

CARNAPPER'S MODUS OPERANDI: (WHILE ON THE ROADWAY)

• Taxicab: the easiest road prey.

• When refuse to stop overtake and block target victim at gunpoint
• To board public utility vehicle and divest occupants,
• To bump rear-guard to force the driver to check and stop
• To the sides-swipe vehicle to force to stop
• By scissors -cut scheme, to block mobility of quarry Bodily shove driver, while on
stop at red traffic light signal

ANTI-CARNAPPER'S GADGETS:

• Pedal-clamp with self-lock immobile shifting gear

• Gas valve control automatically stops within a 2 km distance
• Touch-alarm signal audible within 200 meters radius for 10 minutes

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• Shocking steering wheel within 12 minutes after engine starts, it will be electrically
charged
• Jet scat button within 2 minutes after the engine starts. driver's seat collapsed or
the driver is jettisoned
• Spew of gas fumes within 2 minutes after the motor start, the emission of irritating
gas begins
• Tires deflation within 2-km distance, the attached laser bean will automatically
deflect the two rear tires.

WHY CARNAPPING PROLIFERATES:

1. Traffic Investigator is weak on the science of criminalistics, then a criminal's

holiday.
2. Law on supply and demand theory, the demand is high the price is low 12
3. Registerable in cohorts with Land Transportation Office, the battle is shifted from
ambulatory street crimes to documentary war on the laboratory room.
4. If registration is nil cannibalized: chop-chop vehicle commands more profit than
wholesale trading.
5. The prosecution is fax or fix; righting a wrong through legal fixtures to circumvent
sanction.
6. Buyer's in good faith alibi when buyer's in bad faith Take legal refuge to evade
conviction.
7. And only 2% were solved at the thousand carnapped annually, once the
opportunity is greater than risk factor, carnapping increases

LEGAL OBSTACLE: WHY LAW ENFORCEMENT IS PASSIVE

1. Right of the accused to counsel in all stages of investigation

2. Right of the accused to remain silent during the investigation
3. Life is valuable than property doctrine, killing carnappers unless in complete self-
defense. is a felonious act.
4. Strong human rights advocate
5. No warrantless arrest, unless the crime is committed in the presence of the arrestor
6. Buyer's in good faith alibi, police wanting legal savvy will succumb to this argument
although considered the weakest market of defense
7. Placing roadblocks of the check point in the light of the Supreme Court ruling the
operational efficacy of ambulatory crime is affected

LEGAL ARSENAL: AS EQUALIZER

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1. Having prima facie evidence, file criminal complaints against all responsible
therefore
2. Execute warrant of the arrest order, regardless of the personality involved
3. Apply for a search warrant for the seizures of a stolen vehicle
4. The doctrine that the vehicle is an extension of the house was already abandoned,
and therefore, can now be inspected and impounded if warranted
5. Place owner under bond if refuses to testify: carnapping is a crime against property
and the owner's testimony is material to the successful prosecution of the case.
Section 16, Rule 119, Rules of Court
6. The attendance of the witness may be required by silence and if he failed. he may
be compelled by a warrant of arrest Section I1, Rule 23, Rules of Court.
7. File an action for Replevin meaning, the return to or recovery by a person of goods
or chattels claimed to be wrongly taken or detained upon the persons giving
security to try the matter in court and return the goods if defeated in the action.
Rule 60, Rules of Court. Tillson vs Hon Court of Appeal, GR 89870, 28 May 1991

HOW TO STOP CARNAPPING:

• Administrative Remedies:
Without any liter of gasoline spent, without any bullet fired, without any loss
of life and limb, without a drop of blood, and the least expensive operation to stop
carnapping is through the annual registration of the vehicle. How?
1. No new vehicle can be registered, unless proof of payment of
importation tax is presented, otherwise, there is a strong legal
presumption that it comes from an illegal source or carnapped
Sec 3. RA 6539
2. No newly built or assembled jeepney can be registered unless
supported by pertinent documents, otherwise, it is considered
carnapped Sec. 5, RA 6539
3. Philippine National Police clearance is a sine-qua-non before
sales or transfer can be registered to the new buyer. This
process can shatter the invincibility of buyer-in-good-faith
defense of carnappers.
4. Stencils of the engine, engine block, or chassis are
prerequisites to the new or annual registration of vehicles to
determine whether the serial number is Tampered or
substituted.
5. Laboratory examination or etching test is a must if there is
doubt that the serial number of the engine. engine block or
chassis is tampered with or altered.

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6. Original registration certificate for an annual payment of fees

should be meticulously examined through physical or ultra-
machine check to ascertain its genuineness.
7. If there is variance with the color or description of the vehicle
with that of the registration certificate, the probability that it
may come from an illegal source is not remote but inevitable.
• By Cursory Examination of the License Plate Number:
Vehicle can be the object of inspection or be impounded if they answer YES
to any of these questions.
1. Is the attached license plate number surpassing the expiry month of the
registration period? This violation can have three legal effects
a. Non -- registration
b. Nonpayment of import tax
c. Carnapped vehicle
2. Is the license plate number not for the vehicle to which it was attached?
Was it for the car, van, truck, or otherwise?
3. Is there signed the license plate number that was badly cut? Where letters
and numbers were meticulously interchanged to untraced the owner?
4. Is the visible screeched on the nuts and bolts of an old license plate number
new?
5. Is the license plate number rotatable manually or mechanically? By itself, is
a violation of the traffic code. But the inquiry has to be expanded to verify
the criminal agenda behind
6. Is the commemorative or diplomatic license plate number not attached to
the proper vehicle? There is diplomatic immunity from arrest in some cases,
but there is no diplomatic immunity from verifying the authenticity of an issue
involving the national security of the State Most often, these license plate
numbers are stolen and become the refuge of criminal syndicates to avoid
arrest.
7. Is the Republic of the Philippines (RP) license plate number attached to an
expensive car or any vehicle, which by any stretch of the imagination, is
impossible to be owned by the State? The mostly untaxed or carnapped
vehicle uses these ploys for personal gain

LICENSE PLATE NUMBER DISTRIBUTIONS

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А - 1 & CAR G/Y -7

B-2 H-8
C/R - 3 J-9
D/V - 4 K - 10
E-5 L - 11
F-6 M - 12
Note: Motor vehicles from Region 13 can be registered in an adjacent
region.
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

N - 1979 - 1981 W - 1997-2000

P - 1981 - 1991 X - 2000 2004
T - 1991 - 1995 Z - 2004 - to present (2008)
U - 1995 - 1997

LAST DIGIT OF THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER

1 - JANUARY 6 - JUNE
2 - FEBRUARY 7 - JULY
3- MARCH 8 - AUGUST
4 - APRIL 9 - SEPTEMBER
5 - MAY 0 - OCTOBER

THE DRUNKEN DRIVER

It is a shocking fact that hundreds of thousands killed and millions injured

worldwide from road accidents far outweighs the combined air and water disaster in the
same period Studies further show that of these figures, 72% were attributed to driver's
error. 26% to mechanical malfunctions and 2% to freak accidents All of the 72% attributed
to driver's errors, 86 of which are caused by driver's drunkenness. This is crucial in
prosecuting drunken drivers. The result of laboratory examination is the principal
determinative and constructive facts Where the existence of the entire cause of action
rest

KINDS OF INTOXICATION:

1. Involuntary - when a drunken person does not know the intoxicating strength of
beverage, he has taken
2. Intentional – when a person deliberately drinks liquor fully knowing its effects,
either to obtain mitigation or to find the liquor as a stimulant to commit a crime

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3. Habitual - when the person finds that drinking is a constant necessary and the
vice ultimately takes hold of him

VARIOUS DEGREE OF INTOXICATION

1. Slight Inebriation there is reddening of the face. There is no sign of mental

impairment, incoordination, and difficulty of speech.
2. Moderate Inebriation the person is argumentative and overconfident. There is
slight impairment of mental difficulties, loss of coordination of finer movements.
The face is flushed with digested eyeball. He is reckless and shows motor
coordination. The person may be certified by the doctor as being under the
influence of liquor.
3. Drunk - the mind is confused; behavior is irregular and the movement is
uncontrolled. The speech is thick and coordinated. The behavior is uncontrollable.
4. Very drunk - the mind is confused and disoriented There is difficulty in speech
and marked motor coordination and often walking is impossible.
5. Coma - the subject is a stuporous or comatose condition Sometimes it is difficult
to differentiate this condition from other conditions having coma.

BRIEF EXPLANATION HOW A PERSON GETS DRUNK:

Alcohol has its maximum period of absorption from 30 to 60 minutes after ingestion
and it is absorbed in the stomach and in the intestines Technically, if alcohol is only inside
the stomach and intestines and not yet absorbed, it is practiced outside of the body
because it cannot produce its physiologic and neurologic effects.

The rate factor of absorption of alcohol in the stomach and intestine depends upon
the following factors:

1. Concentration and total quantity of alcohol taken

2. Nature of food present in the stomach and intestine. Fatty foods make absorption
of alcohol slower as compared with sugar and other carbohydrates and protein.
3. The length of time the gastric contents are held in the stomach before the opening
of the pylorus.
4. Permeability of the stomach and intestinal membrane to alcohol
5. Chronic thinkers absorb alcohol faster than non-habitual drinkers
6. The concentration of alcohol in the beverages between 10 and 20% is the most
rapidly absorbed.

SYMPTOMS OF ALCOHOLISM: (Immediately after ingestion)

1. There is the sensation of well-being and slight excitement.

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2. Actions and emotions are less strained

3. A person becomes careless and develops an increase of confidence within himself
4. Sense of perception and skilled movement slackened.
5. A person becomes irritable, sleepy, gay, and pugnacious.
6. A person becomes clumsy and in-coordinate
7. Speech becomes thick and slurring
8. In-coordination causes the person to become giddy, stagger and possibly fall.
9. Finally, the person passes to the state of coma or vomiting due to gastrointestinal
irritation

THE POLICE PROBLEM OF DRUNKEN DRIVER:

When is a driver drunk?

1. Courts are a little vague as to what why mean by drunken driving". Some judges
hold that if the alcohol, has, in any way and to any degree, affected the driver's
coordination or speed of reflex action, then the driver is under the influence of
alcohol
2. For some other courts, the standard appears to be at the driver is drunk "if he does
not possess the clearness of intellect which he would otherwise possess"
reasonable-sounding criteria, through difficult interpret In some courts, on the other
hand, it appears that man is not intoxicated within the meaning of the law... unless
it is shown that he has lost the control of either f his mental faculties...or of the
muscles of locomotion". The essence of this formula is the meaning of the phrase
"lost control"

Proving a drunken driver by Police Investigation:

Drunken driving is a violation of the provisions of the Land Transportation Code

and the offender driver is subject to arrest and punishment, confiscation, and cancellation
of license to drive. The policemen did not often detect these drunken drivers and vets,
they are great hazards to traffic. Worst, when they commit car accidents resulting to the
death of persons involved Great problem is encountered by police investigator and these
two difficulties are:

1. The difficulty of proving a person is drunk without chemical tests, and,

2. The allegation of the driver that taking a test without his consent is a violation of
his constitutional right against self-incrimination

COMMON DEFENSE OF DRIVER AGAINST A FINDING OF DRUNKENNESS:

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1. That the odor on his breath is due to anti-freeze which spilled on him when he was
filling the radiator of the car
2. That he used mouthwash and perhaps that contained alcohol, thus causing the
odor on his breath.
3. That he is a diabetic and his swaying is due to acidosis or insulin
4. That he had a blow on the head recently, and that is why he is staggering
5. That he did not sleep last night and that is why he is groggy
6. These findings are the effects of the medicine the doctor is giving him
7. That he has been unable to walk straight ever since he hurt his leg or back
8. That dust blew into his eyes which accounts for its redness

CLINICAL EVIDENCE OF DRUNKENNESS OR ALCOHOLISM:

Clinical evidence is a sign or appearance available to the naked eye of an

examining doctor or police investigators which will prove, prima facie, that a person is
drunk without the need of a chemical or scientific examination. In acute alcoholism, the
clinical evidence is maters of common knowledge Some forms of clinical evidence.

1. Clothing - it is untidy, stained, and with the smell of alcohol

2. General Appearance - bloodshot eyes, red-faced, groggy stance and
coordination is lost
3. Breath with varying degrees of alcoholic odors.
4. Speech Content- incoherent, sarcastic, hostile attitude
5. Eyes dilated pupils, reddened conjunctive or glassy appearance
6. Mentality lack orientation, clarity of thought, no self-control, euphoria excitement
depression
7. Tremor and irregular behavior.

ADMISSIBILITY IN EVIDENCE OF CHEMICAL TEST FOR PROVING INTOXICATION:

Any chemical and scientific test for alcohol to determine whether a person is under
the influence of alcohol is admissible as evidence in court Withdrawal of blood from a
person and extraction of a urine sample from a person suspiciously drunk to determine
the alcohol concentration in the blood and/or urine is not self-incriminatory. The act is
purely mechanical and it does not utilize the mental faculties of the person or subject This
is important in crime detection because the person cannot refuse the investigation in
submitting himself to a chemical or scientific examination.

FORMS OF CHEMICAL AND SCIENTIFIC TEST OF INTOXICATION

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1. Analysis of blood for alcohol contents

2. Analysis of urine for alcohol contents
3. Analysis of saliva for alcohol contents
4. Analysis of breath to determine the concentration of alcohol
5. Analysis of body tissue and spinal fluid

BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION:

While there is variance to determine the blood alcohol concentration to establish

the guilt of the drunken driver, but many authorities agree on the American Medical
Association level 10% and there is no dispute that this level of intoxication driving
proficiency is already impaired Admittedly, there are many to be considered to equate in
drinking, they are

1. weight of the drinker

2. the individual physique of a drinker
3. kind of wine taken, and
4. amount of beer or wine consumed.

Even before the clinical examination, an experience traffic investigator can establish
that the driver is at the 10% level of intoxication if he had consumed six (6) ounces of 85
proof of wine or had taken six (6) cans of twelve ounces beer.

TOPIC LINK FOR VIDEO

ANTI-CARNAPPING LAW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I3T-pVQY7A

ANTI-DRUNK AND DRUGGED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7ABLQ2z8U
DRIVING ACT – R.A. 10586

Blood Alcohol Concentration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck7B_Q0FBjU

References:
Traffic management and accident investigation.
Deliso, Darlito Bernard 2014

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