We made a long day trip to San Fernando, La Union from Manila and back. Out of curiosity, I made a tally of the vehicles that made us slow down from 40-80 km/h to 10-30 km/h in a national highway. Here are the breakdown:
Type of vehicle Manila to La Union La Union to Manila Average
1. Tricycles 43 40 41.5 (53% of total)
2. Jeep 1 2 1.5
3. kuliglig 1 2 1.5
4. trucks 16 15 15.5 (20% of total)
5. FX/van 2 3 2.5
6. buses 3 6 4.5
7. motorcycle (single) 6 10 8 (10% of total)
8. car 1 6 3.5
Total 73 84 78.5
An average of 78.5 vehicles has forced us to slow down per trip. We need to exercise caution in overtaking these slow vehicles as most portion of the national highways does not allow overtaking (double yellow line or busy oncoming traffic). More than half (53%) of road hazards of this type are tricycles along national highways. Trucks comes second as these comprised 20%. Motorcycles came third as 10% are motorcycles.
If you will multiply these number to the thousands of vehicles using the national highways that were compelled to hit the break and slow down, then accelerate again, you would get a fair idea of the fuel, break lining and time wasted. I can only surmise that the amount is huge. This unnecessary economic loss is more than enough to build another lane for slow moving vehicles along national highways, so these vehicles will not pose hazards to themselves and to other motorists. Aside from improving road safety, it will increase the efficiency of our roads, and the productivity of local businesses. Do we still need a more detailed study on this?
Showing posts with label Road Hazards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road Hazards. Show all posts
Adopt a 'Drive, don't drink; Drink, don't drive' Policy
Driving under the influence of alcohol has been identified as one of the major causes of road accidents. However, this is one violation that is difficult to implement in the Philippines. One reason is that the law requires to prove that certain level of alcohol in the blood has been reached by the driver. Secondly, the penalty is too light for the gravity of the offense, which include endangering the lives of others.
It is high time for our lawmakers and policy makers to act and change this iniquitous law. Let us adopt a 'if you drink, don't drive - if you drive, don't drink' policy. Alcohol and driving don't mix. If they do mix, it's fatal. Any sign that a driver has taken alcohol should be enough to put him/her in jail to preclude any accident. And since the possible outcome of this violation is death, this offense should be criminalized as it is a wilful act, not just a mere traffic violation, and the offender must be meted at least 90 days of community service (to offset the social cost that may have suffered by the public) and a fine of P20,000, for the first offense. The penalty should be doubled if the violation is incurred again. The penalty should be stiff enough so that risk taking (not to obey the law) may not be resorted to anytime. But all of these are futile if the law enforcement agencies are not implementing the law consistently.
Road Hazard: Unqualified drivers
Our roads are populated by unqualified drivers but were given license to drive anyway. If you are careful and obey traffic rules and regulations, chances are your will be likely hit by an ignorant or reckless drivers. These are people who are licensed by the LTO but are not really fit to drive, or otherwise their licenses are fakes. They obtained their driver license by cheating the exam. If you will ask, how many are these type of drivers, your guess is as good as mine. If you got your license from fixers that mill around any LTO office or branch, then you will have a chilling conclusion that they are so many. Remember the 'codigo' he gave you to answer the test, and the reminder not to perfect all your answers. The results of this pernicious practice are self evident: drivers who can not read or understand traffic signs, drivers who do not comprehend road-right-of-way, drivers who obstruct lanes, drivers who do not use signal lights before turning direction or changing lane, drivers who stay at overtaking lane, and so on. That is one of the recurring reasons why our roads are not safe, and road accidents happen very often.
DOTC-LTO should not tolerate cheating in driver tests, as well as the proliferation of fixers around LTO offices. In turn, we as private citizens, should spurn this evil practice, otherwise all of us will lose in the end, either our lives, limbs or our property. It is just a matter of time.
The road to a safer Philippines begins with qualified licensed drivers. Not all of us should drive, especially those who are not trained and competent to do so - they are hazards to themselves, to their loved ones, to us, to everyone in their path. Let's remove them from the streets by revoking their license. But first, the government should clean up the driver test system.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)