Ban killer trucks from the road
HE smash-up caused by a rampaging trailer truck on stir regulators into concrete action.
The road crash injured eight other people and caused jam that ensued for hours on October 26.
It was reported that the trailer truck’s brakes failed, and the driver lost control of the vehicle. The heavy payload of
This story is familiar. The same thing happened in Nasugbu, Batangas in September (5 dead); in Mandaue City, Cebu in August (1 dead – the driver); and in Ligao City, Albay in March (6 dead, 3 injured). Many more cases have been recorded in previous years.
The response to these accidents is also all- too- familiar. Transport regulators propose a 15- year age limit to trucks. Private owners of trucks- for- hire complain of the huge cost of re- fleeting and stand by the supposed roadworthiness of their vehicles. Nothing happens, until the next tragic road accident.
The endless debates over age limits versus roadworthiness should finally be put to rest. Sensible regulations are needed, and the basis of policy should be science ( evidence), not speculation.
It is funny how the head of the Confederation of Truckers was able to conclude with an air of certitude that brake failure could not have been the reason for the Batasan accident; it was as if he was on the scene or beside the driver that fateful day. This is the same group that opposes age limits for trucks.
They should acknowledge that a situation of no age limits for trucks is untenable and irresponsible, given the fact that many of these trailer trucks are hand-me-downs from other countries such as Japan.
In fact, the truckers’ own data, which they use to justify their no-age-limit stance, can also be used against them – for-hire trucks are older than 15 years. It’s an overwhelmingly
If the age limit cannot be 15 years, then make it 20 or 25 years. If Japan deems trucks disposable after 10 years, then a reasonable age limit should be imposed here as well. After all, Japanese lives are no different from Filipino lives.
Truckers who modernize should be given some form of subsidy to help them buy new vehicles, just as the government tries to do for the modernization plan for public utility jeepneys.
The truckers should also be given a reasonable period within which to recoup their investments, by extending - venience (CPCs). The truckers are correct on this point.
Finally, Congress should consider passing the bill establishing a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which, in the US, is an independent federal agency tasked to investigate, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon has said, means we don’t have to settle for unfounded speculation over whether brake failure was to blame for last week's road accident.
This new agency could also administer honest-to-goodness tests on applicants for professional drivers’ licenses (those who want to drive vehicles for hire such as trucks and buses). It is a sensible regulation – not allowing poorly trained drivers to take the wheel.
There are many other sensible regulations that will take us beyond the status quo. One thing should be clear: it cannot be business as usual for regulators and private truckers when human lives are at stake.