Before we ‘build, build, build,’ we must be ‘safe, safe, safe’

The 7th Asean Automobile Safety Forum will be held on May 15, 2017.

Organized by the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian countries (Asean NCAP) and Automobile Association Philippines, the most timely topics affecting all pedestrians and commuters—which will include road safety and discipline, and the road safety situation—will be discussed.

The forum happens at an important period in the country’s developing socio-economic landscape.

As the present administration has given the green-and-go for its “build, build, build” program, there is that gnawing apprehension that with the implied development frenzy of this new government mantra, some basic road safety principles can get left behind.

Although it cannot be denied that the numerous road infrastructure plans lined up for rapid construction within the next 10 years are all meant to ease traffic congestion in our country’s urban centers, the government and the private sector must always place motorist and pedestrian safety above all else.

Of what use would world-class roadways be if the society that uses them threw discipline, courtesy, and safety out of the window?

For certain, without these three basic principles, we’ll be reading more tragic road mishaps in the news and in our social media feeds.

We’ll be shaking our heads at more passengers thrown off their seats when their buses lose their brakes and fall down a ravine.

We’ll be mourning for entire families run over by wayward 18-wheelers plowing through their roadside homes, or for unsuspecting pedestrians killed by a public utility vehicle falling on their heads after it jumps over the railing of an elevated expressway.

We’ll be screaming bloody murder for a hit-and-run victim.

It’s not just the extra-judicial killings borne by the government’s so-called “war on drugs” that are bothering foreign visitors.

When this author did a series of interviews and articles with foreigners walking the roads of Metro Manila and the northern part of the provinces, they were also concerned about the discipline of drivers and fellow pedestrians.

Cindy Malvicini, 50, an American who works for the Asian Development Bank and lives with husband Peter and daughter Elise (who grew up in the Philippines) said, “The most difficult thing about being a pedestrian in Metro Manila is that cars won’t stop. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Especially when my parents visited me, I learned that for the elderly, the streets are just absolutely pedestrian unfriendly,” she said.

Japanese Mike Hosoya and Chitose Kato, both 65, who have been living in the Philippines for more than 30 years, said that in Japan, it’s humans first on the streets.

In the Philippines, they observe that it’s the car that is the priority. “That’s why we tell Japanese friends visiting the Philippines to let cars go first,” said Hosoya, who spoke in fluent Filipino.

Karren, an American who refused to reveal her surname, said, “I know drivers will not obey the rules of the crosswalk at all. In the States, they obey the crosswalks. Here, I don’t pay attention to the crosswalks either, so I just time it.

“I let a few cars go by, and then I just go out like this (waves hands). They have to see me, and for as long as I am visible and I put my hand out, then they will stop. When I do that, almost all the time they will stop, and let me cross.”

Karren added: “I don’t like motorcycle riders here because they will ride up the sidewalk.”

Sure, we’ll be building more roads, more bridges, and highways. Traffic will finally ease up. We’ll get faster from point A to B and beyond.

But without traffic discipline, courtesy, and safety having its own “build, build, build” frenzy in our collective consciousness, fatalities and injuries will also dramatically increase.