Artificially intelligent

I wish I were talking about all the elements being introduced into a motor vehicle to make it smarter, more efficient and safe. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with that. Ever wondered why, despite evidence to the contrary, people employed to build our roads lack the level of intelligence required to provide us with infrastructures that are supposed to make road life easy for all of us.

Requirements ranging from college degrees, to passing licensure exams, to having the required experience to build

structures, these would have all pointed toward competent people who have enough intellect to ensure us that the standards they implement pass the most basic of requirements; road safety. Unfortunately, that is not what is happening.

For those who have driven down the strip of road that connects the north and south reclamation areas, one will note the total lack of lane dividers that will aide drivers in staying within their lanes. One may say that I am jumping the gun, as the road concreting project is not yet completed. An incomplete project, however, is no reason to endanger the lives of all motorists and commuters who ply these streets regularly. Visible, reflective signage to warn motorists of obstructions, like trees in the middle of the road, would greatly reduce the risk of collisions. Wrapping a tree’s entire trunk with yellow ‘Caution’ tape is not the way to go.

Neither is lining up used tires as lane dividers. As much as it seems to be a novel idea to make the road appear like a racing circuit by lining tires in the middle of the road and painting them with all the colors of the rainbow, these do not offer any form of safety. What would happen if a speeding vehicle would lose control and slam into the row of tires in the middle of the road? Are those tires strong enough to effectively slow down the vehicle? Are they securely tethered together to make sure that they don’t go flying in all directions and endanger other motorists?

We all know that not every motorist has the reflexes of a race car driver. We also know that, based on instinct, once we see a projectile heading our way, we squint and evade first without looking if the direction we are evading toward is clear. Now, imagine a tire hurtling toward you, at the same velocity that the speeding car hit it, as you’re driving down the road. Some would react by swerving, while others would probably slam on the brakes. Can you picture out what mayhem may unfold beside and behind your motor vehicle?

The people tasked to handle road projects should be required to go back to school and study two things: road safety and moral responsibility. Their attitude of accepting and applying mediocre solutions just to pretend to satisfy basic safety requirements should be eradicated. There have been too many incidents where these have caused collisions and fatalities that could have been avoided had they had the decency to do their job properly.

Working for the public works department not only requires a license, it also requires intelligence. And their current projects show a clear lack of such. When will we ever learn to put the right people in place?