Mission Impossible?

A few weeks back, I attended the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) sponsored launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety campaign. The campaign, spearheaded worldwide by the United Nations (UN), will run from 2011 all the way to 2020. Throughout the course of the campaign, local agencies worldwide (in our case the DOTC) will engage in coordinated efforts to increase road safety awareness. Fully aware of the enormity of the task here in the Philippines, the DOTC has partnered with several other government agencies and NGOs – and continues to reach out – in order to get as many people involved as possible. Quite simply, the goal is to have a much safer and more road safety-conscious populace in 10 years – worldwide.

The campaign’s goals are lofty… the task at hand, almost unachievable. But is it really impossible? Perhaps. But that won’t stop those of us who embrace road safety as an advocacy from trying. To get ourselves started, all in attendance were asked to sign a pledge form. The pledge was simple and very direct. It listed down the things we ought to be doing if we are to create positive change from within. Here’s what was written on the pledge…

“As a road user, I pledge…

To maintain my car in good, roadworthy condition;

To always use a seatbelt while driving;

Not to drive after drinking alcoholic beverages or after taking drugs that may impair my alertness, reflexes and faculties;

Not to use my cellphone while driving;

Not to be goaded into road rage by aggressive drivers of motorcyclists;

Not to throw garbage out of my car;

To always observe and follow road laws, rules and regulations;

To support the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.”

Believe it or not, I have little problems following the aforementioned pledge. That is, except for item number five, “not to be goaded into road rage by aggressive drivers or motorcyclists”. Now I won’t be a hypocrite here. I’ve driven under the influence (and paid a very steep price as I learned my lesson the hard way). I’ve thrown garbage out of my car. I’ve used my cellphone while driving. I’ve even broken a few traffic laws here and there. But I can honestly say that I’ve managed to keep all those in check ever since I embraced my road safety advocacy. Except for item number five…

In that sense, I realize that I am a typical bad Filipino driver. We’re generally bad drivers because often we let reason slip out the power window. This happens when we feel that our co-motorists or co-road users are abusing the roads – and thus it becomes our moral obligation to correct them. When someone cuts us off, we get upset. When someone jaywalks, we get upset. When someone brakes and speeds indiscriminately, we get upset. As a result, we often get into fights with other road users. Generally, that’s how we approach “correcting”.

Here’s what I realized by attending the launch of the Decade of Action campaign. It isn’t our moral obligation to correct anyone, at least those of us who are not men in uniform. Nope. Our moral obligation isn’t to correct wrongdoing. That falls under the responsibilities of the proper authorities. Our moral obligation is merely to be better examples. Our moral obligation is to rise above the mediocrity by starting at home – with ourselves. Item number five pretty much says it all. I will not be goaded into road rage by aggressive drivers or motorcyclists because it is the right thing to do.

I had to struggle with embracing item number five just a couple of weeks ago. I remember laughing about item number five with Ford Group Philippines AVP for Corporate Communications Anika Salceda, who like me insists that this was the one item she’d also struggle with. Which is why even then I had already decided that item number five – and my eventual struggles with it – would one day be column fodder. Well... fate, generous as it is, gave me my column fodder sooner than I had expected – just two weeks ago, to be exact.

The setting was at the upscale Shangri-la Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong, where supposedly better-educated, upper middle class people spend their leisure time. It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon and I had just come off a lazy lunch with my parents and nephews. After lunch, the kids naturally wanted to stroll around and maybe goad their grandparents into purchasing for them a toy or two. My bankrupt wallet and I left the kids with their grandparents and decided to go home early to take an afternoon nap instead. So you can imagine my state of mind. Sedate. Peaceful. Relaxed.

As I pulled out of my parking space at the bridgeway level, the driver of the car in front of me pulled over at the corner where cars going up and cars going down meet and waited there for his passenger, who was taking her sweet time getting into the car. I was a bit flustered by the insensitivity of the driver, as he had intentionally blocked both ways of the already crowded access road. But I told myself that this was the one time I could actually live up to the challenge of item number five. So I held back. Well done, I thought to myself.

Then, not two seconds pass by before the driver of the car behind mine (whose plate number and car make I will not mention since this isn’t a piece about vengeance) cuts me off and creates an even bigger mess. Soon enough, an SUV that’s headed up into our level gets stuck in a hanging position. Between the two mindless, absolutely insensitive drivers in front and behind me, we’d created a traffic gridlock – inside a covered parking lot… where there wasn’t even an intersection! I swear, it was the dumbest self-inflicted Gordian knot I had ever seen transpire before my very eyes! Then to top it all off, as I gestured to the driver of the car that had cut me off to back up (as I had made space for him so that he could get out of the mess he’d created) his passenger gave me the finger! I literally had to use my right hand to pull my left hand from my car’s door handle as the world turned red.

Item. Number. Five.

As the dolts struggled to clear the mess they made, I closed my eyes and began some deep breathing exercises. “I will not be goaded into road rage by aggressive drivers or motorcyclists,” I kept repeating in my head. It was a terrible ordeal for me. The passenger’s infuriating facial expression still haunts me to this day. There was a time when I’d have taken pleasure in rearranging the said face. But I had just recently signed a pledge that declares that those times are over. Was I able to get past the incident? Let’s just say that internally I’m still struggling to. But at the heat of the moment, I was at least able to stay my hand.

So… going back. Is the goal of a targeting a much safer and more road safety-conscious populace in 10 years achievable or is it really mission impossible? Well, it takes one excruciating step after another. But that’s why we’re giving each other 10 years. If I can keep the incredible hulk within in check, I’d say that goals that are as lofty as road safety awareness are not just doable – they must be viewed as inevitable. My pledge. My struggle. My goal. Want to make the pledge as well? You’ll struggle too, for sure. But together, we can celebrate when we reach the goal.