Photo of the all-new Toyota Fortuner makes a “debut” on social media sites.
In this week’s social media traffic jam, we look at a pickup that hangs out in SLEx, license plates that bend on water, and a mall owner that is getting into the public transport business.
Slippery Skyway
Last week’s torrential rain proved that driving in high speeds along SLEx’s elevated road can land you on its rail, as one motorist found out the hard way.
It happened last Wednesday afternoon when a Mitsubishi Strada pickup skidded and plowed into the concrete outer guardrail of the Skyway near the Bicutan exit, tail first.
As the pickup nearly fell off the elevated highway, chunks of debris fell on a hapless vehicle below.
In a Twitter advisory, the Skyway management said a Mitsubishi Strada figured in an accident on the southbound lane of Skyway at 3:30 p.m.
Fortunately, the driver and fellow passenger were safe, albeit causing heavy traffic in the area. The accident raises the question whether the Skyway’s guardrails are adequate. The Mitsubishi Strada is a light pickup, yet it had sufficient momentum to breach the guardrail.
A heavier vehicle could go over the guardrail more easily. In December 2013, a bus operated by Don Mariano Transit plunged off the Skyway and into the traffic below, killing 21 persons.
Bended plates
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) chose a Dutch company supposedly to make more durable car plates, but a lawmaker claims the new license plates can’t even stand minor flooding.
Slippery roads once again prove perilous for speeding vehicles.
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said the plates were easily deformed, but that the LTO kept brushing off mounting complaints about the poor quality of the new license plates.
“One motorist complained how his new license plates bent… [in] knee-high floods in Quezon City, saying that the water bouncing back from the radiator was enough to bend the plates, which he says never happened to his old plates,” Albano said.
The lawmaker said the LTO just made a “limp reply” by announcing that it was ready to replace any deformed plate at no cost to the owner after an in-house investigation.
Based on his staff’s research, Albano said the LTO, police and traffic enforcers had no bar code readers, while the bar codes themselves do not contain any information about their respective vehicle owners.
This prompted Albano to call the P3.8-billion new car plates program a “milk and bilk” racket meant to add a bigger burden on motorists, who were already paying road users’ taxes and insurance.
They’ve got it all
It’s no secret that the SM Group has been trying to break into the transport business.
After some unsuccessful attempts, it scored a victory recently when it announced a tie-up with a big Luzon bus operator to serve Cebu City and nearby areas.
A new world record for Honda for lowest fuel consumption
The Inquirer’s Biz Buzz learned that the Hans Sy-led SM Prime Holdings sealed a partnership with JAM Liner, a bus company that currently serves Metro Manila and Southern Luzon. JAM Liner is led by its president, Dennise Trajano.
The two groups are forming a joint-venture company, known as Metro Rapid Transit Service Inc., which will provide a “high-quality public transport system” for Cebuanos starting 2015.
The Inquirer learned that the company will initially serve key routes from Talisay and Lapu-Lapu City, where the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is located, as well as certain stops where SM has malls.
This includes the South Road Properties, where SM Prime is building the massive SM Seaside City, scheduled to open later this year.
Joining the venture is SM Prime’s chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim as well as the well-connected Marissa Fernan, who wears multiple hats within the organization apart from serving as SM Prime vice president for Visayas and Mindanao.
Wheels of Fortuner
The photos of the much-anticipated, all-new Toyota Fortuner were posted on social media recently and made SUV buyers salivate with anticipation and ponder as to when they could get their hands on one.
The new Fortuner is expected to carry a 2.8-liter diesel engine with 174.58 HP and 450 Nm, and a promised improvement in fuel efficiency and reduced engine noise.
A quick look at the photos shows that the front now sports smaller, slit-like headlamps with what look like daytime running lights and LED main units.
There’s a generous helping of chrome, with two vertical strips and three bars across the grille. Even the foglamp surrounds get some chrome surrounds.
The rear lamps are also wide and low, flanking a chrome bar stretching across the tailgate. There’s a conspicuous kink that rises aft of the rear doors.
The instrument panel looks different from the new Hilux’s, with two big vertical bars flanking the center panel.
One for the books
Honda recently set a new Guinness World Records title for “Lowest fuel consumption–all 24 contiguous EU countries (all cars),” recording an average 35.503 kilometers per liter over 13,498 km in a 25-day drive across all 24 EU contiguous countries.
Behind the wheel of a Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC for the entire journey were two members of Honda’s European research and development team, Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren, who took on the challenge to further demonstrate the impressive real-world fuel economy of the Tourer.
The remarkable distance traveled is similar to the team driving to Australia from their home in the United Kingdom, stopping just nine times to refuel.
The car achieved an incredible average 1500 km on each tank of fuel, at a total fuel cost for the whole journey of just £459 (P31,853).
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