I’ve been very conscious of this since a few months ago after our car got rear-ended by a delivery truck. This issue also became a major part of my consciousness during the Holy Week vacation as well since the two trips I took had me driving through the whole length of three expressways: South Luzon Expressway, North Luzon Expressway, and Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway. The trip back to Metro Manila from Subic is especially worth mentioning (in a negative sense).

Here’s a summary of what happened. Shortly after passing through the NLEX tollgate at the Pampanga end, we encountered a traffic jam. Initially, I thought it was due to the high volume of motorists making their way back to Metro Manila. I was wrong. The cause of the bottleneck were two separate pile-ups or multi-vehicle collisions. One of the accidents involved at least three vehicles, the last two of which clearly figured in that situation because of a failure to keep proper braking distance.

I admit that because of the accident I had a few months back I was anxious about driving along expressways. The main reason for this is that I can no longer trust other motorists to know enough about the physics involved in driving a motor vehicle.

As it so happened, the basis for my fears and anxiety was real. I had expected each and every motorist who drove by the scene of the two accidents to be reminded of the dangers of driving recklessly along an expressway. I was wrong.

Just after passing those pile-ups, several cars whizzed by at speeds well over the maximum speed limit. While I may have just dismissed their stupid driving as something that did not concern me, I really couldn’t because simply put: their recklessness endangered not only themselves but others as well including me and my passengers.

Two particular idiots actually almost hit our vehicle. They were driving their vehicles really fast and it was already dark at that time so I was unable to even get their plate numbers. I can vividly remember though that they were driving a sedan and a bus.

What happened was really dangerous. First, the sedan moved past our vehicle at breakneck speed, overtaking several vehicles on the fast lane. (We were on the second lane from the inside at that time, by the way.) Within a millisecond of the sedan passing us came this big-ass bus. I swear I almost felt my soul leaving my body as I noticed from my rear-view mirror how close that bus came to hitting the left-rear portion of our vehicle. Balahibo lang ang distansya.

From the looks of it, those two idiot drivers were engaged in a chase. I can only speculate what happened but clearly at that point the bus driver was probably so determined to get back at the driver of the sedan that he just couldn’t let the other driver go. Btw, I estimate the speed of those two idiot-driven vehicles at that time to be at least around 12o kph. What was really scary about that was that the distance of the bus from the sedan was only about three to four meters. What if the sedan were to suddenly lower its speed? The bus would have certainly rammed the sedan considering the lack of sufficient reaction and braking distance.

So am I encouraging the filing of a class action suit against our land transportation agencies because of this? I certainly am. But why? Simple lang. Our roads have become very dangerous now just judging from the number of accidents that occur on a daily basis. The impunity many Filipino drivers display is already troubling and with the way our land transportation agencies are working it seems this impunity will continue.

Our land transportation agencies have failed many times over to ensure that (a) only people who are in their right minds are given licenses to drive;  (b) professional drivers such as those in the public transport sector really know how to drive safely; (c) defects in road designs are addressed; (d) conditions or situations that contribute to the environment of recklessness on the road are eliminated (e) etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

The mere fact that on Metro Manila roads puv drivers practically control the flow of traffic and pose great risk to other motorists because of their need to earn their day’s keep within a quota system are already enough reasons to blame all these agencies. Besides, why shouldn’t we blame them? The responsibility to do whatever it takes to keep public roads safe for everyone falls on them.

A few questions running through my mind: Why is driving in the Philippines a very dangerous activity? This situation is nothing new so why has it remained unresolved? What are these agencies and the people running them doing? Are they waiting for their own relatives to fall victim to the recklessness of idiot drivers before they decide to take action?

Kung di ninyo kaya ayusin ang sistema ng transportasyon sa Pilipinas, tounge in a new magpasagasa na lang kayo! Sa pison kung pwede lang!

(this is an unedited rant. I’m too pissed to care about editing right now.)

I think these developments bode well for public transportation and traffic management at least in Metro Manila. The first shows that the modernization of the PNR’s railway system is moving. The PNR is reportedly expecting nine more trains.

I’m particularly interested in the LTFRB’s plan. Retiring 4,000 buses — hopefully the dilapidated and colorum ones — will definitely help ease the flow of traffic in Metro Manila especially along EDSA.

Unfortunately, there’s a negative side to this. Bus operators say this will leave thousands of people without jobs. Each bus has at least two personnel — the driver and fare collector. At 4,000 buses, that’s 8,000 people who will stand to lose their source of income. I’m sure the government will later say that projects to help those who will be affected are in the pipeline.  I just hope whatever action the government takes will not be the usual short-term fix.

Just this morning, I heard a radio commentary about this LTFRB plan. The radio announcer pointed out that the LTFRB grants bus franchises to operators with at least 100 buses. He added that the LTFRB also requires bus operators to have garages for their buses.

The announcer said many bus operators do not have garages.  He also pointed out that some operators do not even really own the required number of buses. They just rent out their franchises to other groups to complete the required number.

I am not aware if the LTFRB rules expressly state that renting out bus franchises is not allowed. If it is then the erring operators should be penalized accordingly. However, if it is not then the rules should be amended immediately.

Anyway, while listening to the commentary I couldn’t help but think that this franchise-for-rent scheme is ingenious. Whoever came up with the scheme sure know how to spot and take advantage of an opportunity. The way I see it, if the rules do not expressly say that that is not allowed then it is not the concerned company that should be faulted but the agency or the person who drafted the rules.

I think this should serve as an eyeopener to anyone who is involved in making rules, regulations and laws. To them I say: Accept the fact that people will exploit loopholes. Anticipate this and make sure the rules, regulations and laws that you craft are not too easy to circumvent. That is part of your job. If you cannot do that then you do not have any business handling such a task.

Kung bobo ka hanap ka na lang ibang trabaho.