Our deadly roads
Imagine a disease—entirely preventable and curable, with the “medicine” readily available—that kills 35 Filipinos every day and an additional 348 left with serious disabilities. The public reaction would be predictable, with screaming headlines and social media hashtags all over the place. Legislators would immediately call for an investigation, while entire communities would be put on high alert.
That “disease,” though, is not a disease at all.
But the deaths and disabilities resulting from it is all too real—all too bloody, all too costly, devastating and traumatizing.
We’re talking about road accidents: crashes, collisions, rollovers, pedestrians mowed down by all sorts of vehicles, and even innocents killed when a vehicle plows into their roadside homes, stores and stalls.
Indeed, the World Health Organization counts the Philippines as among the “deadliest” countries in terms of road safety today. And the toll is rising. The number of crash-related deaths in the country rose from 6,869 in 2006 to 10,012 in 2015. But you wouldn’t know that given the lack of attention and concern from all involved. An authority and advocate of road safety rues the fact that despite the high toll in lives and health, road accidents “rarely make the headlines,” adding that “the more frequent road accidents happen, the more we should collectively do something about it.”
The operative word is “collectively.” Sure, individuals and groups have time and again called attention to the problem, and local authorities including the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority have launched intermittent campaigns to educate and protect motorists. But these are of little import when arrayed against bad driving habits including overspeeding, drunken, distracted or drugged drivers, untrained or mistrained drivers, careless passengers and pedestrians, and indifferent law enforcers.
Even more dismaying is the finding that the majority of road deaths—78.61 percent or more than 7,000 in 2014—were among the “economically productive” age group of 15-64 years old (mostly males), with those between 20 and 24 counting for the highest number of fatalities, followed by those between 25 and 29.
Of late, laws have been passed like the mandatory use of seat belts and child safety seats, use of helmets for drivers and riders of two-wheeled vehicles, even regulations on the use and location of cell phones while on the road. But these are riddled with loopholes that make enforcement spotty and inadequate. While the national urban speed limit has been set at 40 kph and 80 kph as the maximum rural speed limit, there is no speed limit for motorways or highways, compelling the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety for 2015 to place the country’s rate of enforcement at 5 on a scale of 0-10.
The national drunk driving law requires “probable cause,” such as a fatal crash, before random breath-testing can be carried out. No data are available on the percentage of traffic deaths involving alcohol, with enforcement rated at a “very poor” 4.
As for helmet use, the law requires its use, but helmet fastening is not mandatory. And while the distracted driving law bans handheld mobile phone use while driving, hands-free use is allowed which, experts say, is just as distracting.
Time will tell if the national child restraint law, prohibiting children 6 years old and below from sitting in the front passenger seat and requiring a child safety seat for children under 12, will be implemented sufficiently. But even now, parents are complaining about the cost involved, even if it can be argued that if parents can afford to buy a vehicle, they should at least be able to afford a car seat to ensure their child’s safety.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to the enforcement of road safety laws and the construction of the necessary infrastructure is the abolition of the Road Board in 2018 that, among other things, was meant to fund from the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge the construction of road safety features and structures, including a public education component.
Now that funding is gone; the 2020 national budget also contains no appropriations for road safety programs. This leaves road safety in the hands of local and national authorities who may not always have it at the top of their priorities. Until, perhaps, they or their loved ones are involved in an entirely preventable road mishap.
