EditorialBlowing hold, cold

Blowing hold, cold

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The newly-assumed Provincial Director of the Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental, Senior Supt. Edwin Portento, has stumbled upon something we have known all along–driving motorcycles without helmets can be deadly.

Portento said he was surprised to see the records that the number of road accidents in the Province is almost half of the total crime statistics for the past eight months, involving about 200 individuals every month, who are either hospitalized or killed due to head injuries. Most of the fatalities are–you guessed it–motorcyclists.

The police cites several reasons for the increase in traffic-related accidents, such as the utter disregard of traffic rules and regulations, national roads getting wider, the presence of fast-moving vehicles and motorcycles, and the weakening of law enforcement.

But it doesn’t take a genius to understand why this happens: We allow motorcyclists to operate their vehicles without regard for safety. No mirrors, no lights, no mufflers, and above all, no crash helmets.

One day the police are so excited to implement the law, and the next, they seem indifferent.

Safety should be the top concern of the people who implement the law. If Sr. Supt. Portento would simply insist that all policemen who drive motorcycles should drive only vehicles that are compliant with the law, that would be a big step in reducing accidents as these policemen will not think twice about apprehending those who fall short of the law.

We would like to venture a guess about one reason why we blow hot and cold in enforcing the laws on road safety: Aside from the absence of the political will to do it, the enforcers, more importantly, do not have the moral authority to do so.

If we were to inspect at least the motorcycles of our law enforcers, would these pass the safety requirements?

And because many of these accidents happen in Dumaguete, can we ask the City to put more teeth in implementing the law?

In fairness, the City has tried to address one of these issues–loud mufflers. They have seized as many unregulated mufflers they could find (even if they were sold in stores that had business permits, in effect, certifying that the stores only sell legitimate merchandise), and ran a roadroller over them, to drive home the point.

Nothing has been heard about any continuation of such drive after that wonderful “press release moment”. (And that’s not a pun.)

Reducing traffic related accidents starts with safety. Safety starts with every motorist. Each one of us must remind ourselves before driving out every day that Life is Short.

Driver’s education has sunk to an all-time low, thanks to the very easy way with which people can buy their way out of a written and practical exam in getting a license, and then the lack of law enforcement.

Come to think of it, our traffic mess is much like the drug problem–no one can solve it within three to six months. But we welcome baby steps toward the attainment of this vision. Any small step is better than the metaphorical path of least resistance.

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