Road safety involves government, you and me

An alarming number of road accidents, some involving public transportation buses, were reported over the Holy Week. A number of these accidents claimed innocent lives and hurt scores.

Holy Week is one of the peak travel seasons by Filipinos, majority travelling from Metro Manila to their respective home towns to be with their kin. Other busy travel periods include long weekend breaks, Christmas, New Year, All Souls Day, fiestas and summer.

During these times, the police as well as disaster response teams and other motoring assistance groups are on full alert, ready to assist motorists and even commuters who may encounter problems or peril during their travels.

Even in major Metro Manila bus terminals, many of them in Cubao and Pasay, traffic enforcers and bus operators commit double time and effort to assist and ensure the safety of those who are travelling. All of these efforts are commendable and to be expected.

And yet, too many accidents still happen.

Tighter driver re-education

This brings us to the need for better driver education, more so for those who man public utility vehicles that ferry commuters. The issuance of professional licenses should be tightened so that there are no incidents where undeserving drivers are let loose on the streets.

A number of road accidents have also been noted for commercial vehicles that carry cargo, and even if these do not ferry human passengers, they can be a menace on the roads by causing vehicular accidents, and in some cases, even hurting bystanders.

The worst professional drivers that can be found on our roads are jeepney drivers who very often are wearing slippers. Many are old with questionable 20/20 vision, and on many occasions, unkept in the clothes that they wear.

Renewing a professional driving license in the Philippines has become a cinch in recent years, thanks to the introduction of a no-fuss system that cut across the notorious red tape that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) had been known for in the past decades.

However, the system has not been able to weed out professional drivers who do not deserve to be reissued a driving license. Perhaps it is about time that renewals should include mandatory tougher requirements, like getting a refresher driving course before being re-issued a license.

Even those carrying non-professional licenses need to be vetted more closely when re-applying for a license. They are, after all, responsible for a huge number of road accidents.

Franchise cancellations

Recent controversial road accidents involving Metro Manila-based bus operators have given the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) the impetus to actually cancel the franchises of the a few bus companies found guilty in the last few months.

Hopefully, this would give a stern warning to other bus firms to pay closer attention to keeping a tight watch on their maintenance and operations, as well as ensuring that the drivers they hire are competent enough to entrust the safety to their passengers.

Of late, there has been a spate of vehicular accidents involving buses and jeepneys in the provinces. So while the bigger bus companies are giving more attention to keeping higher quality standards, the campaign must spread to provincial bus lines.

Many of the franchise operations are too far away from the LTFRB’s attention that it has become challenging to track their compliance. This has resulted in recent stories about road accidents on provincial and mountain roads.

Some LTFRB satellite offices have also been remiss with monitoring the business documentation of bus companies, especially those that have acquired existing franchises from a company that is selling out from the industry.

Let’s see more franchise cancellations of errant provincial bus lines. They don’t deserve to be entrusted with the public’s safety.

Stricter vehicle maintenance

Finally, vehicle maintenance should be given more attention since many road issues that have been collated lately deal with stalling – a radiator gone bust, a fan belt that snaps, a flat tire, a clogged fuel line, a dead battery, or a broken alternator.

A stalled vehicle is cause for traffic build-up, one that wastes the fuel and precious time of those that are inconvenienced. It is also a potential cause for additional road accidents, however minor, since the delays also tax affected drivers’ patience.

Whatever happened to the tight emission screening that resulted from the serious smog problem in the metro many years ago? Today, there are a lot of buses and jeepneys that spew black smoke on their regular runs.

It’s not enough that vehicles do the mandatory emission tests when renewing their annual vehicle permits. Perhaps it’s high time that vehicles are seriously encouraged to change oil and have their tune-ups on a regular basis as prescribed by the vehicle manufacturers.

Tighter compliance

The other side of this is to keep tighter compliance on smoke belchers, and to impose more stringent penalties on those caught violating the Clean Air Act.

Metro Manila’s ambient air condition has improved drastically from those days when a hazy film of smoke greeted motorists when they entered EDSA or any of the major roads at any time of the day. Our regulators just have to guard against those who blatantly defy the laws.

Our lawmakers have come up with one of the most stringent environmental laws in the region, and meanwhile vehicle manufacturers and oil companies have complied by coming up with better designed vehicle engines and more environment-friendly fuel formulations.

What’s left now is for the citizens of this country – yes, you and me – to do their share in keeping the roads safe from accidents and harmful toxins.

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