Deal with it

It is not surprising that motorcycle riders quickly slammed the proposed banning of all motorcycles on EDSA, calling the law “stupid”. According to them, there is no such law that discriminates against one kind of vehicle, especially if they pay the same road tax as everyone else. Motorcycles are allegedly not prone to accidents, because they are “flexible and agile.”

But it is for this very reason that motorcycles get involved in so many accidents. They need to see the statistics from the MMDA. In 2016, 21,400 motorcycle-related accidents occurred, where 238 had fatalities. This year alone 17,800 accidents have been recorded. So what exactly are they saying that motorcycles are not accident-prone? Motorcycles weave in and out of traffic, even when vehicles are not moving. When they hit cars, especially side mirrors, do the majority stop to check if they damaged anything? No. I have seen countless CCTV footage where motorcycle riders seem obliviAous to traffic rules and regulations, and just do what they want to do before getting involved in accidents. They counterflow traffic as if their supposed smaller profile will not inconvenience the opposing lane, even getting mad at drivers that cannot avoid them.

The numbers are clear. The videos are clear. There are a lot of motorcycle-related accidents in the Metro. The MMDA will still continue studying the planned banning of motorcycles along EDSA. It is obvious that the opinion of the riders have been made clear. Now it is time for others to weigh in on the proposal. Motorcycle riders are not the only ones plying EDSA, or on all roads for that matter.

Motorcycle riders should not feel discriminated, since there is also a plan to limit driver-only vehicles to the two middle lanes of EDSA, while the innermost lane adjacent to the MRT will be for vehicles with two or more passengers. Since cars are not as “flexible and agile” as motorcycles, I can already see a problem when coming in to EDSA and getting out of it. But what can we do if these are the proposed solutions to the already horrendous traffic on EDSA? Everyone just has to deal with it, motorcycle and vehicle riders alike.