Do you remember the smell of your car when it was new? I vaguely remember mine, as my truck has clocked in more than 20,000 kilometers already in just a year. Talk about mileage! I recently got reunited with the new car scent in the form of a relatively low-mileage Montero Sport test unit lent to me by the good people at Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, who have been very nice and accommodating hence the number of Mitsubishi topics in my blog lately.
Having been doing a string of successful driving events for their new cars, Mitsubishi once again invited a select group of the motoring media to a driving event for their new 4×2 Montero Sport. Dubbed “The Montero Sport Challenge”, the event was patterned after popular reality show “The Amazing Race”, with a different twist, as we had to arrive at our checkpoints at exactly the given time (no more, no less).
There are motor insurance, airbags, advanced seatbelts, and tons of electronic safety devices for new cars today. But did it ever cross your mind that motorists in the Philippines are among the most unprotected of its kind in the world? Big surprise there, being in a land of outdated and patchy laws conjured by those know-it-alls in the government.
Consider this: It’s only in the Philippines that hitting someone, even a jaywalker, automatically puts a motorist at fault. When somebody throws himself at your moving car, you are also charged. Cars may come with pedestrian protection, but nothing can stop ignorant/lazy people from crossing the road as they please in this country. I write this thinking of a recent accident wherein a vehicle bearing a protocol plate ran over a security guard crossing EDSA underneath a pedestrian overpass. The media’s angle reproached the vehicle owner’s abuse of power which created a controversy on the proper use of such plates. I think the vehicle owner was lucky to be well-connected so he got away with only a minor settlement. What would have happened if he were a mere mortal, like the rest of us? More importantly, what could the government suggest to prevent the same incident from happening in the future?
A brother of my friend once got into a similar scrape. That time, the jaywalker sprinted across EDSA and was hit right in front of a pink sign that screamed “WALANG TAWIRAN, NAKAKAMATAY” (“No Crossing, Deadly”) in bold, white letters. The family of the jaywalker demanded monetary settlement to compensate for whatever injury they could come up with. Despite being the law-abiding party, the motorist became the bad guy and ended up as the real victim—of harassment, extortion, serious damages on his vehicle, and even trauma. Granted, motorists bear more responsibility, having the privilege of driving. However, what protects responsible motorists from irresponsible pedestrians? In this country, the laws—or the lack of them—seem to be bent in such a way that owning and driving a car is already a crime.
New laws ought to be created to protect pedestrians and motorists alike. Jaywalking is probably the most difficult traffic law to enforce, and to follow for a specific race of human beings in this corner of the planet for some reason. But this doesn’t justify less doggedness on the part of the government to implement measures that would benefit pedestrians and motorists. And I don’t mean unsightly pink fences and costly overpass projects. Reasonable, solid laws updated to fit today’s time should promote discipline and order. Our country cannot progress when majority of the people can’t even cross the street properly.
