Someone ought to file a class action suit against all government agencies in charge of all land transportation concerns here in the Philippines. The way I see it real punitive action must be taken against these agencies for failing to correct the very obvious fact that many Filipino drivers especially those in the public transport sector do not care about ROAD SAFETY.
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’m with you on this. i’m a motorist as well and have noticed that indeed, the roads are very dangerous these days.
i am especially concerned with the attitude of motorcycle drivers who acts as if they are “immortal”. who doesnt give a damn in cutting vehicles when taking a turn or those who try to squeeze in to traffic.
i strongly believe that every driver must undergo formal drivers training.
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bp Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
ronnie,
yes, moreso if the driver is applying for a professional license. isn’t it ironic that many of our so-called professional drivers don’t even know or accept the fact that yellow means slow down not go faster. i think the problem with road safety in this country is one issue we should all be indignant about instead of that carolla thing.
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The land transportation agencies I don’t get. They focus themselves too much on things like swerving, color coding etc. Maybe because they make more money there. But the big issue is those public utility vehicles who drive recklessly and risk the lives of its passengers. There’s so many traffic issues in our country but I think we should start on our PUVs.
I wish that giving professional driver’s license will be stricter and will have lots of seminars so they would learn all the road ethics there is. And the land transportation agencies should really maintain discipline. Look at edsa. MMDA’s are everywhere but they don’t mind those buses leaving the yellow lane and swerving like there’s no other cars. But they just ignore them, they focus on apprehending private vehicles who go inside the yellow lane. I don’t want to speculate on the reasons behind this but they should change! Maybe then we can move to other issues..:)
http://roadethic.blogspot.com/
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I agree with you 100%! Just this morning an 18-wheeler was barreling through Del Monte ave apparently chasing another 18-wheeler. The former almost hit our car, with me and my family in it! I was supposed to go straight through along Banawe as the light turned green. However, there’s this jeepney at my left who was trying to beat the red light slowly. I had to slowly inch forward to block his way trying to let him know that “hey, it’s our right of way now”. As i was about to step on the gas, the reckless truck came barreling from my right. That was a good 5-8 seconds after the light turned green! Plus, there was a closed van on my right who actually stopped, which should’ve signaled the 18-wheeler to stop. That was too close a call. What if I followed the traffic sign and went forward? I agree with you when you wrote “their recklessness endangered not only themselves but others as well including me and my passengers.”
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bp Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Jobert,
Del Monte Avenue? That’s not even a highway!
The way most people drive especially those in the public transport sector it’s pretty clear the culture of impunity is prevalent. Someone ought to file a class suit against the government for allowing things to get this way.
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I was riding a jeepney from Sta. Cruz to Libertad when suddenly nagkaroon ng bangaan sa jeep na sinasakyan namin tsaka sa isang Toyota Fortuner. Sobrang naawa po ako sa jeepney driver kasi matanda na siya and hindi nya kasalanan ang nangyari but it seems like di nakikinig yong traffic enforcer sa kanya. Just imagine nasa left side ung Toyota Fortuner with Plate No. XXXXXX tapos ung jeep na sinasakyan namin is at the right side.. Ung Toyota Fortuner was trying to make a right turn pero it was a one way road siguro nag-alangan ung driver kaya bumalik kaya nasapol ung sa may bandang likuran ng Fortuner at natuklap.. ang kapal naman ng mukha ng driver na ipagiit na kasalanan ng driver nong jeep when in fact it was his fault and ang masaklap nun, nag-eexplain ung matanda sa traffic enforcer pero wala man lang itong kino-comment parang pinaparating nyang mali talaga nong jeepney driver, i forgot to get the name of the said enforcer but it was along D. Jose.. Ang akin lang naman sana maging fair naman sila.. Naghahanap buhay ung matanda para mabuhay sa araw2x.. eh magkano lang kinikita nila taz maabala pa ng ganyan sa boundary pa lang, di na sila aabot.. Sa mga enforcer naman, di po purket naka-Fortuner ung kalaban eh dun na kakampi.. Isang malaking sampal sa propesyon niyo kung ganyan kayo ng ganyan.. Kaya pumapangit ung imahe niyo kasi ganyan kayo sana lang ayusin niyo trabaho niyo.. Salamat
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bp Reply:
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:42 am
mylene,
ako man nabiktima ng isang taxi na ang driver matanda. nakakaawa din yung nakabangga sa akin. pero sa totoo lang kasalanan talaga niya. rear end yung bangga sa akin. ang masaklap pa grabe kung magpalusot at gusto pang baligtarin at palabasin na ako ang may kasalanan. paano naman mangyayari iyon eh ako nasa unahan niya?
sa kuwento mo, siguro nga kasalanan talaga nung nasa fortuner. hindi ko alam dahil di ko naman nakita ang pangyayari. pero hinala ko baka hindi rin naging defensive ang driver ng jeepney. nung makita niyang umaarangkada yung fortuner para singitan siya o kung ano man lalo rin niyang binilisan ang kanyang jeepney.
marahil pamilyar ka sa estilong ganyan. halos lahat ng puv driver dito sa pilipinas ganyan. kapag sumenyas ka na paliko ka imbis na pagbigyan ka lalo ka pa nilang gigipitin sa daan.
posible rin na kasalanan din talaga nung nasa fortuner. at posible rin na nasilaw nga ang traffic enforcer sa gara ng fortuner at agad niyang pinanigan ang driver nito.
ang sa akin lang huwag naman sana din magtago ang mga puv driver sa kanilang kahirapan, katandaan o ano pa man. simple lang naman para sa lahat ng motoriste: ayusin lang pagmamaneho sa daan.
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