Imagine you’re driving down the road, and all of a sudden, a motorcycle or a bicycle pops out of nowhere straight into your path. Collision would be inevitable – and so are entreaties of, “Boss, aregluhin na lang po natin ito.”
Of course, what can you do? Even if the other guy’s clearly at fault, you’d probably take pity on him – he’s probably a blue-collar worker who’s trying to make it to work, or a delivery rider rushing to get his parcels on time.
Also, you’d probably want to avoid all the hassle of taking this matter to the authorities as it would also involve your time and money.
So most often, motorists who would face such a predicament would probably think, “All right, let’s settle this rather than make a fuss.”
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With the removal of restrictions brought by COVID-19 this year, so did the volume of traffic in our streets – and, unfortunately, so did the number of accidents and incidents of so-called “road rage.”
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said last April more than 11,000 individuals died due to road accidents in 2022 – higher than the 10,000 deaths reported before the pandemic struck in 2020.
Meanwhile, studies have shown that at least eight of 10 drivers say they exhibit aggressive behavior at least once a year, while nine of 10 drivers think of aggressive driving as a threat to their personal safety.
Most of these cases, such as the viral one of a former policeman who pointed a gun at a cyclist in Quezon City, inevitably end up being settled out of court for a variety of reasons: the fear that the aggressor might take revenge on the victim if the case goes to court; the hassle (and the lost money and time) in filing charges, and the desire to avoid even more publicity (more so, if such incidents go viral on social media).
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Unfortunately, the most recent cases of road rage have become extreme (and fatal).
In Manila, a truck driver was caught on camera allegedly deliberately running over another driver after an incident of “gitgitan.” (The victim was rushed to the hospital but later died due to his injuries.) The truck driver later claimed that he did not see the victim, but CCTV footage as well as eyewitness accounts reportedly debunk his accounts.
There's nothing wrong, legally, with the desire to settle road accidents or incidents out of court – after all, that's exactly what authorities are now encouraging to relieve the issue of congestion in our courts.
But here's the thing: by opting to make “areglo” instead of bringing the case to the proper authorities, are we inadvertently teaching a wrong lesson to our fellow drivers: that it’s all right to act aggressively on the road because everything can be settled with money, anyway?
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