Concrete solutions
After that public utility bus plowed through several orange plastic barriers along EDSA, authorities are now considering replacing them with concrete barriers. That's the kind that takes a crane or a bulldozer to move. If any kind of vehicle hits these barriers, the barriers will surely survive while the vehicles may not. The logic is that motorists, particularly those who really have no right being behind the wheel of any vehicle let alone a public utility bus, will be more careful driving. A sort of deterrent, if you will.
But a safety advocate is saying that using concrete barriers pose more dangers for all motorists. Aside from the damage it can definitely cause on a vehicle, a fast moving vehicle may become airborne as it hits the barrier, causing more mayhem. This is why most countries use plastic barrier filled with water or sand. They have enough "give" not to cause too much damage.
While both sides do have their points of argument, the question remains. How do we discipline the majority of drivers in Metro Manila? The barriers were placed because vehicles just do not stay within their designated lanes. Drivers just are not disciplined enough to follow "invisible" lanes. Buses snake around with impunity. The barriers act as a visual and physical guide for motorists to drive properly, aside from being deterrents.
The same argument can be made of houses that install barbed or concertina wire, or even put up electrical fences. These are devices that can hurt or even kill a person trying to scale the wall of a house. But what business does a person have when he willingly scales the wall of someone else's house but to rob or commit a crime? The devices are there precisely to deter anyone from scaling the wall. If one becomes injured or even perishes, he had no business climbing the wall in the first place.
With the kind of traffic we have in Metro Manila, accidents will happen all the time. They make the news on a daily basis. There is a need to have more discipline on the road.
There is a need to have better screening of public utility drivers. A three-strike rule must become a one-strike rule. And it covers all motorists, both public and private. Authorities have used wire fences, plastic barriers to keep everyone in line.
If these do not improve traffic, then perhaps some more drastic measures are needed. Chaos, or what some are now calling "carmageddon" is not something one looks forward to on a daily basis.
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