Pinoys can’t drive

ONE of the constants of city life is the nerve-wracking and reckless way people drive, oblivious to others’ safety and convenience.

There are many Filipinos who do know how to drive, meaning they know how to handle their vehicles and they know the rules. But, unfortunately, the good drivers are vastly outnumbered by the bad ones.

The result? Chaos on the roads and accidents major and minor. The problem emanates from the fact that too many of our drivers never took formal driving lessons. I, for example, learned how to drive from my older brother Tito. We started in the province where there was very little vehicular traffic. Then we practiced on Quezon Avenue going to the University of the Philippines which, at that time, was virtually deserted as there were only a few cars, with only a few buses plying the route.

In the advanced countries, driving lessons are part of the high school curriculum. That’s how young people learn how to drive. The lessons include learning all the rules, road courtesy and etiquette.

Unfortunately, here in the Philippines we don’t get the full package. With a few tentative sorties on the road, a guy graduates to driving on the main road and that’s all there is to it.

“Right-of-way” is a universal concept about how to drive properly. This includes all the rules and good practices that are based on logic and common sense. Unfortunately, right-of-way doesn’t exist in the Philippines.

The Filipinos’ concept of rightof-way is who gets to a certain spot first. You get there first and you have right-of-way.

Accidents and traffic altercations occur because of the Filipinos’ concept of freedoms. The Filipino driver believes that he has the right to drive, which is correct. He or she also believes that he has that right and the right to be at a certain spot, which is also correct.

Problems arise when all drivers believe that they have all those rights at all times. In other words, everyone believes that they have the right to force themselves into a spot on the road at all times, without the need to yield to others depending on logic and common sense.

One of the most misunderstood or ignored traffic rules is “right-onred.” This rule is designed to keep traffic flowing for those turning right even though the traffic light is red. But the vehicle turning right may only proceed if there’s no traffic coming from his or her left. Unfortunately, Filipinos are either unaware of this or they simply ignore that part of the rule and turn right on red anyway even if there are oncoming vehicles coming from the left.

And, as Filipinos are wont to do, they toot their horns so the driver in front of them would turn right already even if there’s no sign that says: “Right lane must turn right” and even if the guy in front wants to go straight instead of right.

Filipinos make their own rules of the road. The latest one which is very dangerous is when a motorist wants to turn left but there’s oncoming traffic from the opposite direction. The driver wishing to turn left, out of his impatience, blinks his headlights to indicate to the oncoming traffic that he wants to make the left turn, and then makes the turn.

This is a very dangerous practice. What if the oncoming vehicles are going at a speed that would not allow them to stop or give way to the motorist who wants to turn left? I don’t know of any other country where this new Filipino invention is practiced.

And then there are the daredevils, including bus drivers, on the road who don’t care about others’ safety. Motorcyclists are a breed of their own, reckless and often inexpert in handling their vehicles. Thus the many motorcycle accidents.

Everyday out there on our roads is an experience, even a gamble. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s lives that are gambled with.