Strict laws to limit accidents

(Editor’s note: Without appropriate control by legislation more deaths from accidents will follow as noted by the author.)

The death of five more PUB passengers in Pagbilao, Quezon, won’t be the last in the remaining months of 2010. We have hundreds of unexamined, untouched, and uninspected PU buses/jeepneys all over RP.

But ‘new’!

We are the only deliberate buyers of second-hand vehicles, big and small, that are reconditioned, given a thin coat of new paint, and blessed as fully shiny and NEW. The right-hand transmission gears are transferred to the left of the hood to make it appear new and fit for RP travel.

Until a bus of this kind falls into a canal and kills 42, 15, 10, or more passengers.

Fit to kill

For years up to this month, only the radio/TV reporters were first to declare that the killer bus was not fit to carry passengers, except in the poorest states in Africa like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to name only five of more than a dozen.
Promotion?

Grant of driver’s license has a few basic requirements and forms to fill. And if filled out in the homes of applicants, it is done in legible handwriting like a holder of a teacher’s diploma. In fact the applicant is a car/truck wash boy ordered by bus owners to drive legally for a much lower wage. If this applicant earns P3,000 monthly he can qualify for a higher wage of P6,000, for driving a passenger bus against a skillful driver’s net monthly income of P12,000 plus.

Faulty brakes na naman

Or the new driver-car wash boy can replace the regular driver midway from Bicolandia or before reaching Pagbilao.

In all investigations of accidents that show death counts by the dozen, the foremost cause is: “Due to faulty brakes as narrated by the driver,” reported by police, barangay officials, or LTO employees.

Nothing about bad habits/health

So far the reports don’t bother to state: 1) that the driver smells of denatured alcohol; 2) his blood pressure is a malignant 220/120. According to doctors if left untreated this BP can result in death or stroke in a matter of days; 3) the driver is not asked if he is suffering from extreme stress caused by a death/tragedy in the family; and 4) three to a dozen more conditions that guarantee a driver’s helplessness.

Long travel

Like being asked to drive without awareness that the bus has not been examined by a mechanic of skill and experience; that maintenance is a matter of monthly concern, not daily or twice a week; that overworked engines, brakes, transmissions, and major parts can render the bus unfit for long-distance travel.

Engines, like humans and animals, need rest and good food. Drivers and conductors should submit to regular check-up of: BP, heart, lungs, blood sugar, kidney, liver that can be noted after a blood test reading.

On rolling coffins

We see daily on the road vehicles that look ancient, dilapidated, fully dirty (rusty), especially the long giant cargo and dump trucks that appear proper for junk yards or homes for talaba in shallow waters.

There’s no law against sickly PU drivers and buying trucks found in the junk bays in countries north of Manila – Japan and South Korea especially.

No law against junks

Worse, transportation companies have all the experts to recondition or wash greasy jeep and truck engines fit for a locally welded or abandoned chassis. If there’s no law against buying junk for domestic shipping, why should PU owners be ordered not to buy all classes of junk – buses, jeeps, etc.

LTO examiners?

All over RP, getting a driver’s license is easier than filling out the forms by strangers, kin, or friends.

Have you ever seen an LTO examiner sitting with drivers to test driving skill or teach them the basic rules on safety – when not to overtake, not to run like a turtle on the inner (left) lane, not to run over a yellow or white line, not to smoke and sing, and other don’ts for safe and courteous driving?

Can’t we pass a law requiring PU owners to post a sign like “Acquired or bought in 1960” just to warn innocent passengers?

All for profit

Without the appropriate legislation prohibiting rolling coffins from loading passengers, even free of fare, the roll of deaths by accidents due to faulty brakes, etc. will get longer. If a vehicle has faulty brakes, this condition that leads to death and injuries should not be called an accident, but a deliberate urge to make a profit without investing to earn it.

Without firm control and prohibition, the age of modern travel will not bless our nation. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com). –ATTY. ROMEO V. PEFIANCO, Manila Bulletin