EDITORIAL — The road is not a private raceway

As per a report in this newspaper, John Vir Salise, 42, a resident of A.S. Fortuna Street in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City, was killed after he was hit by one of two vehicles allegedly racing each other along  Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City, around 3:30 A.M. last Friday.

He was reportedly using a pedestrian lane to cross the avenue when he was hit by a Toyota Vios driven by a certain Billy Tabalason, who was then said to be racing a Toyota Raize driven by Ralph Sisco Acol, 22.

After hitting the victim, Tabalason, reportedly abandoned his vehicle and got into the Raize which then fled the scene, eventually hitting a taxi that tried to prevent them from leaving.

Acol was arrested shortly and found to be drunk, Tabalason had just been apprehended as of yesterday.

It’s sad that there are drivers who think that the road is their own personal raceway.

Incompetent drivers, the subject of a recent editorial, are one thing. But motorists who put themselves and others at risk by willfully flaunting the law because they are drunk, want some monetary gain, seek an adrenaline rush, or just do it for kicks, are another thing entirely.

These don’t happen that often, but they also happen too often for comfort; motorists racing each other in the streets. Sometimes it’s car owners, sometimes it’s motorcycle riders. Most of the time this is done during the late night hours when it can be assumed there’s less other vehicles on the road and the regular traffic personnel are off duty.

The least trouble they can cause is wake up the entire neighborhood with their ruckus. The worst thing they can do is end up taking a life of someone who had nothing at all to do with their foolishness.

Drivers who think they can just get into accidents then have the gall to flee from what they have caused should be made examples of.