Terrible accident
I was extremely saddened to hear about the terrible accident where a van rammed a mahogany tree in Alegria, Cebu, last Saturday. Seven people died, all medical missionaries from the Philippine Medical Association of Chicago, while three were injured in the accident. Most of the medical missionaries come to the country every year to conduct medical missions for indigents. Dr. Nunilo Rubio, a distinguished physician from Chicago, was among the fatalities. Ironically, three of those who perished were only invited this year. The deaths have hit the grieving Chicago Fil-Am community hard.
According to Alegria Chief of Police Efren Diaz, the driver, Gilbert dela Cruz, admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. He only had an hour's sleep before the day's planned trips to Oslob and Kawasan falls in Badian. He is now under custody and will be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries.
This brings to light the danger of falling asleep while driving. When my older brother was in college, he also fell asleep at the wheel while on his way home. Fortunately, he survived the accident, because the oncoming vehicle saw him and did his best to avoid hitting him head-on. I have other friends who also slept at the wheel and ended up in an accident, some of them serious. Some have even said that it is more dangerous to drive while sleepy than drunk, not that drunk driving is okay.
The accident also brings to light the professionalism of hired drivers. The van was supposedly hired with a designated driver. Was the van part of a company that rented out vehicles, or was it just the usual on-the-side vehicles available for hire, technically colorum in nature? Again, I question drivers with so-called professional licenses. Are they truly professionals, in the sense that they have undergone adequate training to operate vehicles for hire? In this case, obviously not. Why did he even drive the vehicle with only an hour's sleep the night before? What was he doing the whole night, knowing he had a job the next day? This is something that should be acted upon by the LTFRB or whatever government agency that regulates vehicles for hire.
If one feels sleepy while driving a vehicle, the smart and responsible thing to do is to pull over to a safe and secure area, and power nap even for a few minutes. Or better yet, have another driver take the wheel. If only Dela Cruz did these things, the fatal accident would have been prevented.
I also would like to know how the passengers died at the time of the accident. The driver only suffered minor injuries while seven of his passengers died, with three seriously injured. A photo of the accident shows the passenger side of the van crushed as it impacted with the tree. Were the passengers thrown out of their seats? Did they have their seatbelts on? Were there adequate seatbelts in the van? These are some of the questions I'm sure many would like answered. Again, the use of seatbelts while inside vehicles cannot be stressed enough.
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