I frequently travel along Sumulong Highway as it is one of the faster routes among my alternatives between my home and my workplace. Quite often there are road crashes along this road including at sections where you assume people would be more careful driving or riding along. This assumption, while logical, doesn’t seem to hold for Sumulong Highway. The following photo shows a scene where a motorcycle rider probably lost control and took a spill near Padi’s Point.

An overloaded jeepney passes the scene of a crash involving a motorcycle. The rider, who can be seen seated on the curb at right, survived but obviously looked shaken by the experience. He could have easily have been run over by another vehicle after his spill. 

I thought about how safety can be improved along Sumulong Highway. This was certainly a case where crashes cannot be wholly blamed on the road. There’s just too many risk takers including those who are called “camote riders” along this highway. Perhaps the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) or the Antipolo traffic unit can initiate a program where they apprehend reckless drivers and riders in order to educate them about safe driving/riding? There’s no need to set-up checkpoints but they should observe behaviour and flag down or chase those endangering others and themselves along this highway.

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