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.  

Abolish one penalty for several traffic violations

Many are not aware that we are implementing a perverted policy of imposing single penalty for multiple traffic violations in a day. The most serious offense is penalized, while the rest of the traffic violations are ignored or excluded in the assessment of fines. For example, if a driver is cited for several violations like reckless driving, illegal parking, over-speeding and illegal loading/unloading, only the one that imposes the heaviest fine, that is reckless driving, is fined. This absolves all other minor violations, no matter how many are these. One penalty covers all other violations.

This is a perverted policy because it encourages violations. A driver who has been cited for a major traffic violation is bound to commit many other equal or minor traffic violations. This is what is happening in many public utility vehicles (PUV) that are plying our roads. Have you not wonder why PUV drivers can stay at will in prohibited zones to pick up or unload passengers, or drive recklessly all day?, even to the consternation of other motorists. PUV drivers who have learned this trick even buy traffic violation tickets from wicked and conniving law enforcers to exempt them from many other traffic violations that they are about to commit.

Our government should abolish this current perverted policy if they want to improve safety in our roads, and the well-being of our citizenry. It will also increase government revenue, as well as the responsibility of drivers. Let violators pay all the costs of violations that they willfully incurred, in accordance with "Violator's Pay Principle" of sustainable development.