True story: as I was walking along Pacita Avenue on my way home a few weeks ago, someone inside a passing vehicle suddenly opened their window and flung an empty plastic bottle of softdrinks just as I was passing by.
Long story short, that bottle missed me by inches, falling into the drainage beside the pavement.
Owing to my job and the usual risks associated with it, I had become a bit paranoid in past years. Needless to say, the fact that someone threw a bottle of softdrinks on me (unintentionally, I know) was a big shock to me.
I quickly glanced back at the road, but the car was already speeding away in the opposite direction.
Right then and there I started thinking about a topic I had already raised in my column a few weeks back: are Filipino drivers fast becoming the “a**holes on the road,” as a former college classmate once griped?
--o0o—
The recent (re)implementation of the No-Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) has elicited a mix of reactions from motorists.
While some (with reason) decry the NCAP as just another evidence of unscrupulous officials preying on unsuspecting motorists, some have pointed out that since the Supreme Court lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the NCAP, drivers have become a bit more attentive to rules of the road.
Susmaryosep, kailangan pa ba talagang minomonitor tayo 24/7 para lang sumunod sa batas trapiko?
Not only that, I’ve noticed that some motorists, instead of urging others to follow traffic rules and respect others on the road, are now sharing “diskarte tips” on how to beat the NCAP.
Some drivers have allegedly resorted to outright dirty tactics such as substituting plates or even covering up their plates to obscure them from the CCTV cameras that are now so clear that you can even see the faces inside the windows of vehicles.
Added to this is the fact that fixers remain a perennial problem inside the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which meant that people who don’t know the rules of the road or can’t be trusted not to act like a total jerk when met with an accident or apprehension somehow gets the legal right to drive their vehicles along public roads.
Seriously, kailangan na rin ba nating ituro hanggang senior high at college ang Good Manners and Right Conduct?
Kung sabagay, sa isang bansa kung saan papel lang na walang kapangyarihan ang batas, hindi na kataka-takang ginawa na nating “way of life” ang pagiging tarantado at balasubas hindi lang sa daan kundi maging sa pang-araw-araw nating pamumuhay.
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