Iron-fist rule needed for an orderly traffic
We used to see uniformed policemen manning traffic on the streets but these days their presence is scarce
What is this “soft solution” to the humongous traffic problem in Metro Cebu that the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) wants local government units (LGUs) to finalize and implement?
According to Jonji Gonzalez, an aide of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino, the “soft solution” includes the management of public utility jeepney (PUJ) routes by designating ideal drop-off and pick-up areas and the imposition of driver’s discipline and obedience to traffic rules. Gonzalez based his proposal on reports by the Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA) that if PUJs are managed well, road capacity in Metro Cebu would increase by 30 percent.
Cebu City already has traffic signs installed in the right places, including PUJ loading and unloading zones but most PUJ drivers ignore them. Worse, they stop or load and unload passengers even in the middle of the road when traffic enforcers are out sight. This is not to mention illegally parked motor vehicles.
Indeed, the city’s roads are wide enough if managed well and roads users obey and observe traffic rules and regulations. The problem is that there is anarchy on the road. Vehicles are parked on “No Parking” zones and drivers (including habal-habal drivers), act as if they are “kings of the road.”
It’s not only motorists that cause traffic on the road. Undisciplined pedestrians cross the streets any time they wish even if designated crosswalks or skywalks are not far away. And how about new lady drivers (no malice intended) who want other drivers to “please be patient”? Only in the Philippines!
What this suggests is that even government agencies, like the Land Transportation Office (LTO) that regulates the issuance of driver’s licenses and enforces traffic laws, has still to come up with the regulations on new drivers. In the final analysis, traffic problems are partly caused by unqualified drivers able to possess a driver’s license.
Some drivers can’t even distinguish which lane is for fast or slow vehicles. In Cebu City, most drivers stay on the fast lane but they drive slow and traffic in the slow lane (outer lane) runs even faster.
There is no argument that drivers’ discipline is key to an orderly traffic. But how is discipline imposed on drivers, particularly the abusive ones? This depends on traffic enforcers. The problem is that our traffic enforcers cannot confiscate driver’s license because they only carry citation tickets and not temporary operator’s permit (TOP).
We used to see uniformed policemen manning traffic on the streets but these days their presence is scarce. There is a big difference when a policeman manages the traffic rather than enforcers. Abusive drivers respect them or obey traffic laws, rules and regulations because they carry a gun.
LTO, the agency that enforces the traffic code, does not have the personnel for it. Yet, it won’t deputize civilians and non-regular government employees hence traffic enforcers can only issue citation tickets that some drivers just throw it away.
In short, to have orderly traffic in our roads, everyone involved in road management and enforcement of the traffic laws should work together. And we need iron fist enforcement of laws.
Drivers are supposed to know that parking in a highway is prohibited. But from Consolacion to Compostela, car and truck owners use the road side as parking lot. This is also true in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu. But are our traffic policemen or highway patrol doing their job? It leaves so much to be desired.