This is how you discipline our motorists
The FREEMAN yesterday reported that the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) has outlined "soft" solutions to address the worsening traffic problem in Metro Cebu. These soft solutions should have been carried out by the national and local government offices, namely the Land Transportation Office, the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board, and the Cebu City Transportation Office. Mostly it is in the form of educating motorists and, yes, as I've been writing this already, for the Department of Education to teach traffic education in grade school.
All you need to do is observe the traffic flow and if there is a snag somewhere, chances are it is a taxicab taking passengers, a private vehicle stopping with his emergency lights flashing, or a vehicle making a U-turn over a double yellow line. If you ask me, jeepneys should stay only on the leftmost lane and may only overtake another jeepney that has stopped for passengers. Otherwise, they should stick only to the leftmost lane. If we can do this you can partially solve our traffic problem.
In that news report, OPAV assistant secretary Jonji Gonzales cited the report from the Japan International Cooperation Agency saying that road capacity in Metro Cebu would increase by 30 percent if local government units execute proper management of PUJs. He also said traffic congestion may be reduced by 18 percent if LGUs would strictly enforce their road and traffic policies. I totally agree with him that our traffic officers are still too loose in the implementation of traffic rules.
LTO-7 Regional Director Victor Caindec wants his office to help fix Metro Cebu's traffic dilemma. He mentioned that the LTO can deputize traffic personnel from the PNP to discipline erring motorists. He also pointed out that it is important for LTO to deputize personnel who can issue TOP, which carries harsh and punitive sanctions.
I should caution Caindec from using the word "punitive" because in my book our traffic fines are far from punitive! In the US, the majority of traffic fines are over $200 dollars because traffic enforcement is part of traffic education. I also caution the LTO not to just deputize policemen who have no idea of our traffic laws, especially policemen who are not willing to help in traffic management because they might create more problems on the road.
Now as far as OPAV is concerned, I suggest to Assistant Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino to ask the Department of Transportation to install Closed Circuit Television cameras in strategic places in Metro Cebu and do what they are doing in Europe --issue penalties to traffic violators who violate our traffic rules because they did not see an enforcer. I dare say that it is high time for our traffic authorities to use digital technology like they do in Europe.
A couple of months ago, a faithful reader of this column who comes from Germany wrote me a short note entitled "Why we do not have traffic enforcers in Germany" and it is due to the reality that instead of traffic enforcers, they merely photograph traffic violators caught in CCTV footage. Then these photographs are sent to the violator with a summons to pay their penalties and if they do not pay or refuse to pay, then their driver's licenses won't be renewed.
In fact this is the reason why I'm against a five-year driver's license; because chances are those drivers violated traffic rules and should have their licenses revoked! In many previous columns, I have always batted for a "three-strikes" policy. If a driver violates three traffic violations within a year, his license should be revoked for six months, and if he has not been caught driving without a license, his license is returned to him after six months with a warning that he only has two traffic violations allowed.
If that erring driver violates the two traffic violations within six months, then his license is revoked for the whole year. It will only be returned to him one year later if he was not caught driving without a license. So folks, if you want to discipline our motorists, this is my suggestion. Hopefully DOTr, LTO, or LTFRB listens to us.
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