Deadly holiday rides
Against a bus, the jeepney didn’t stand a chance. Before dawn on Christmas Day in Agoo, La Union, a jeepney driver reportedly tried to overtake another vehicle along the national highway. Instead the jeepney collided head-on with a bus on the opposite lane. The jeepney driver died together with 19 passengers including a five-monthold infant. They were on their way to Manaoag to hear mass on Christmas Day. Twenty-six others, many of them passengers in the Partas bus, were injured.
It was 3:30 a.m. and the jeepney driver probably didn’t see too well or lacked sleep. Or perhaps the jeepney malfunctioned, which is quite common. This was the case in another Christmas road accident, this time in Roxas, North Cotabato. Witnesses said the jeepney wobbled as the brakes gave way while rolling downhill before hurtling off a cliff. Eight passengers died and 10 others were injured.
All over the country, too many other jeepneys and buses have collided head-on or plummeted into ravines along winding mountain roads, leaving scores of people dead. Poorly maintained vehicles and inexperienced or drunken drivers are mostly to blame. Drug abuse has also been blamed in some cases, as drivers reportedly take shabu to stay awake for long drives.
Drivers are now required to pass a drug test before securing a license. But some drivers have learned to stay away from drugs for several days before testing to flush out prohibited substances from their urine. Vehicles are also tested before registration, but only for smoke emission. The best that can be done to promote vehicle roadworthiness is to penalize owners when their vehicles figure in fatal road accidents due to mechanical malfunction.
The government can do more to prevent accidents by installing warning signs, lights and road safety devices such as sturdier railings and reflector paint at accident-prone spots especially along steeply sloping mountain roads. Traffic aides can be posted to ensure that motorists slow down before reaching dangerous road curves or slopes. Accidents happen, but the risks can be minimized.