Honking can trigger road rage
It is best to revisit the requirements for getting a driver’s license by including a psychological evaluation.
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It is best to revisit the requirements for getting a driver’s license by including a psychological evaluation.
Driving in the Philippines can be fun, relaxing, and sometimes dreadful and dangerous.
The streets are unsafe everywhere. It is where you experience the unexpected. They can be a beautiful place to start the morning or the wrong place to be at the end of the day. Like culture, the streets are a melting pot of diverse people, some wholesome, some troublesome, and a showroom of more than 5.4 million units of vehicles listed by the end of 2022.
Private motor vehicles are generally designed to protect the people inside them from outside elements and provide some privacy. Public utility vehicles, on the other hand, are usually open for easy access and transport of people.
As the steering wheel captain, a driver must realize that a simple beep at the wrong time and place can attract misfortune and danger and trigger road rage or aggression from the wrong driver. The experience can be expensive when it causes property damage and horrifying when it endangers people's lives. Less is more, or so they say, and in this case, beep only when necessary to alert other cars or pedestrians. Avoid horn-tooting or the unnecessary or continuous blowing of horns.
Honking as a non-verbal communication may sound harmless. Still, it can be misconstrued as aggressive behavior, frustrating for startled sleepers and those who wake up on the wrong side of the bed who might accelerate the wheel or provoke the one tailgating.
"P___ i__ m_, lumipad ka!" retaliates the driver from the vehicle in front of you, with a middle finger on the side mirror to boot. He gets out of his car, confronts the driver at the back, then sideswipes other vehicles. We can only pray that these drivers have no weapons tucked in or hell breaks loose.
"Hoy, bilisan mo! Nabili mo na kalye (Speed up! Have you bought the road)?" growls another, visibly irked by slow-walking pedestrians, some talking on mobile phones.
The harm that road rage can befall innocent drivers and how this can trickle down to innocent bystanders is appalling.
Drivers use a horn to navigate the streets safely but honk sparingly. A good rule of thumb is to make a quick beep or two only when a pedestrian is in danger, when a car in front or on your side is not paying attention to traffic lights, or when a crash is imminent. Lights head up before doing one or two horn bursts when overtaking another vehicle.
Be polite, maintain road etiquette, and use signal lights, not your hands. Unfortunately, many drivers did not go to driving schools and only understand green, yellow, and red lights but not the road signs.
Seeing the evils following road rage, the late Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando issued MMDA Regulation No. 04-002 in 2004, prohibiting horn tooting along EDSA and other major thoroughfares of Metro Manila except during emergencies. Any driver who violates this Regulation shall be penalized with a fine of P500.
Then there is House Bill 8991, which penalizes acts of road rage but is still pending in Congress. It provides that any person who engages in road rage, which results in death, shall be meted six to 12 years imprisonment and a fine between P250,000 to P500,000.
In the meantime, it is best to revisit the requirements for getting a driver's license by including a psychological evaluation so the Land Transportation Office can keep the undesirables or those experiencing behavioral imbalance from holding the wheels. Suspend or revoke the license of those impatient to wait and those who deliberately keep others waiting for no valid reason.
Recent episodes of distressing road rage included drivers — a policeman and a businessman both brandishing firearms — in Quezon City and Valenzuela City. This behavior is not a monopoly of urban cities. It also happens in rural areas. Praise the empowered "citizen journalists" who can swiftly share the images they capture on social media to compel prompt action from authorities.
Last week, the LTO ordered the preventive suspension of the driver's license of an angry motorist who inflicted serious injuries on an Angkas rider and his backrider in a road accident in Mandaluyong City.
When navigating crowded and crooked roads, the driving flaws may be overwhelming, but it is best to involve law enforcement officials whenever a problem arises. Take the high ground; do not engage bullies.
In short, use the horn sparingly. Be patient in giving pedestrians, especially the elderly, pregnant, disabled, and children, the right of way at crosswalks. Minimize noise pollution and the likelihood of crashes. It will help you reach your destination in peace, save money, and prevent mourning by many families.
(You may send comments and reactions to feedback032020@gmail.com or text 0931-1057135.)
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