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[av_heading heading=’ PSYCHOTROPIC | Homo neanderthalis drivertissus’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ANGELICA LOUISE PFLEIDER
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Wednesday, May 24, 2017
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THE PHILIPPINES, the pearl of the orient seas. Home to beautiful beaches, delicious food, hospitable people, and Neanderthals behind steering wheels.
It is a place where road rage is a daily occurrence, where traffic enforcers make the flow of vehicles worse, where pedestrian lanes mean nothing to drivers AND pedestrians, where tricycles, bicycles, unicycles, and even occasional kalesas are included in traffic jams.
If you ask around, nine out of 10 people could say they had been (nearly) side swiped, cut off or had horns blown at them for crossing on a pedestrian lane. Even schools are frequently visited by these sub-species of the human race. The pedestrian lane at the side of my alma mater is constantly being exposed to the music of car horns being blown by homo neanderthalis drivertissus who cannot even wait for students to cross the road.
The ironic thing is, the Philippines actually has a lot of laws and ordinances pertaining to road safety. These are:
1) Republic Act 10054 – a law that requires all motorcycle riders to wear a standard protective helmets while driving
Strike one, if you look around at people on motorcycles, those who do not wear helmets outnumber those who do. The funny thing is that aside from not wearing helmets, they also squeeze as many people on as possible.
The seating arrangement for the family road trip must be planned carefully. Daddy drives with bunso in front. Nene and Toto and are squeezed between mommy and daddy and little puppy Princess is being held tightly by Toto. None are with helmets and they are going full speed.
2) Republic Act 8750 – a law mandating motorists of public and private vehicles to use seat belts and for manufacturers to install seatbelt devices in vehicles
Well, at least most private car owners are obedient to this rule. The real fun is with the public vehicle drivers, jeepneys especially. When there is no Land Transportation Office personnel in sight the poor seatbelt is left forgotten. However, at the slightest sign of that dreaded blue uniform, the seatbelt hurriedly gets laid across the driver’s shoulder as if he was wearing it the whole time.
But whatever, who cares about seatbelts right? I mean, they just protect you from flying out the windshield and turning your face into a pancake if you have an accident right?
3) City Ordinance 05 series of 2013 – an ordinance requiring all vehicles to stop before a pedestrian lane with people crossing
Capital HAHAHAHA. Some drivers think a person on a pedestrian lane is synonymous to a green light. Some drivers even blow their horns at people crossing the pedestrian lane. Honestly I wonder how those people were able to get their driver’s licenses.
The same goes for pedestrians. The whole road does not belong to you. The place where you should cross is the place with the white lines and only there.
What the people of the Philippines lack is instruction and discipline on how to act on the road. Luckily, Volkswagen Philippines is starting a workshop called “Child Safety Initiative 2.0” where as early as four years old, children are taught road manners and why these are important.
However, for all those homo neanderthalis drivertissus I meet out there, there are a golden few who actually follow the law; who don’t text and drive; who insist on themselves and their passengers wearing seatbelts; and who slow down for pedestrians even if they are still around 10 feet away.
I hope these good and educated drivers keep up the good work and share their knowledge with others. The population of the homo neanderthalis drivertissus is growing and we need help from good people, or in this case good drivers, to control their population. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com/PN)
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