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Category Archives: Road Safety
On weather and traffic
With the onset of the wet season, heavy rains have reminded us how terrible commuting can be especially in Metro Manila where public transport services are much wanting in terms of quality. But whether you are driving or riding, using private or public transport, there is always something about the rains that make you feel uncomfortable. Metro Manila’s roads are becoming more and more notorious for flooding and I guess that goes the same with many other roads in other cities as well. Drainage is almost automatically blamed but closer inspection of the cause of flooding shows even the newest drainage systems being unable to accommodate rain waters in part due to their being clogged (by garbage, mud and/or other stuff) or having inferior design for intense rains. With extreme weather now becoming the norm, that is not a good thing especially with what is perceived as poor maintenance of our waterways and road drainage systems. Just look at how overpasses get flooded everytime the rain pours; causing traffic congestion that could have been averted if only we can weather-proof our roads to a certain extent.
Low visibility even during the middle of the day plus slippery pavement surfaces due to heavy rains can cause congestion and lead to unsafe conditions for traveling. The latter outcome is even worse during the night and, in higher elevations, when you have fog to add to the complexity of the environment you are traveling along. Aside from travel time, nothing more serious like life or limb can be lost by practicing safe driving whenever it is raining hard. That includes slowing down, turning on your lights (for visibility) and refraining from undertaking risky maneuvers. Pedestrians and cyclists, too, need to take more caution knowing the higher risks they face or are exposed to when traveling under inclement weather conditions.
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Roadworks along Sumulong Highway, Antipolo City
The roadworks along Sumulong Highway continues with drainage work along the sections across Palos Verdes and Cavalier’s Village. They have cleared a lot of trees along the road’s edge on the Masinag-bound side and only one lane is usable for these sections. This has recently caused several road crashes involving all types of vehicles. While there are obvious shortcomings about the worksite on the contractor’s side, many hardheaded drivers and riders continue to operate their vehicles (read: drive or ride recklessly) as if there are no hazards along the road.
Concrete culverts line the Masinag-bound side of Sumulong Highway
Worksite occupies one lane of the 4-lane/2-way highway. Temporary barriers often encroach upon the single lane available to Masina-bound traffic. This leads to many vehicles encroaching on the opposing traffic lane, violating the double line that states “no overtaking.” Perhaps the contractor needs a refresher or a lesson in proper traffic management and signage for worksites?
Completed sections are not immediately cleared, apparently and likely to have proper curing for the concrete. Notice in the photo that the project includes sidewalk construction. Sidewalks will enhance safety for pedestrians and even joggers or hikers going up and down Antipolo.
Notices are nailed to many trees that will be cut down to give way to highway drainage and sidewalks along the Antipolo-bound side of Sumulong Highway.
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On the worsening state of road safety in Metro Manila and adjoining areas
Recent days have seen some serious road crashes occurring along major roads to the east of Metro Manila. A friend posted about a crash along Marcos Highway last June 10 at the still incompletely paved Marcos Bridge. No one was killed in the crash though the driver and passengers sustained serious injuries. However, there was a high potential for this to have been a fatal crash.
Crash involving a truck plowing into the steel fence and median of Marcos Highway near the Marcos Bridge along the eastbound direction of the highway. Both directions of the bridge’s carriageway’s asphalt overlay had been scraped off and remained neglected for several months until this morning when I observed workers laying out asphalt concrete along the eastbound lanes of the bridge.
An even more ugly crash occurred yesterday in Taytay, Rizal when a truck plowed into the tiangge are of Tatay’s public market killing scores of people and injuring more. Here is a link to some photos and videos about the Taytay crash. These two are but examples of what is happening along national and local roads all over the country with many not even being reported on mainstream or social media.
As I have mentioned in previous posts these crashes were all preventable. Truck operators and drivers need to regularly perform maintenance checks on their vehicles. Brakes are among the critical or essential parts that need to be checked especially with safety in mind. How many fatal road crashes have been reported involving brake failure? In the Marcos Bridge crash, there is also the need to make sure roads are well-maintained and projects not left out for months. In fact, poor road pavement conditions also contribute to traffic congestion as vehicles tend to slow down because of the roughness of the road (e.g., too many potholes). How can the next administration reinforce the enforcement of traffic rules and regulations as well as testing of private and public utility vehicles for these to be certified safe for driving along our roads? Will the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other allied agencies (e.g., LTO and LTFRB), local government units and private entities come up with a more aggressive effort to curb what seems to an increasing trend in road crashes? We hope so and look forward to positive change coming to our roads.
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Road crashes in Antipolo
I open June with a post on road safety. Last week, I passed by many road crash scenes along my route between my home in Antipolo and my office in Quezon City. Many were the now common crashes involving motorcycles. And there were those involving vehicles that got too close to each other in heavy traffic (e.g., tailgating vehicles eventually bumping the vehicle ahead of them). I was able to get photos of the site of the more serious crashes.
Head on collision of a car and owner-type jeepney along Marcos Highway near the junction with Amb. Neri Road. These crashes are largely preventable if drivers kept to their lanes and refrained from violating the rule of the double yellow line separating opposing flows of traffic. I’ve written about counter flowing before but focused on it leading to traffic congestion. A more serious repercussion would be crashes like this.
Overturned passenger jeepney along Marcos Highway in Mambugan, Antipolo. Speeding and unnecessary manoeuvres along this highway often has led to drivers losing control of their vehicles and, in this case, the vehicle turning over and likely hurting (hopefully not killing) passengers. This is again a very preventable crash considering it can be addressed by proper (read: safe) driving as well as enforcement.
Final ‘resting place’ of a truck that apparently lost control along the Tikling bound side of Ortigas Ave. Extension in Barangay Dolores, Taytay. I’ve noticed many breakdowns and crashes involving trucks along this highway as well as Sumulong Highway and Marcos Highway. Many, it seems, involve poor maintenance of these vehicles as well as overloading. Poorly maintained vehicles may lose control with or without their loads and lead to such crashes that in many cases are fatal to innocent bystanders.
With the onset of the rainy season, many roads will be slippery and this will tend to make them more dangerous. In the cases I mentioned above, most crashes are not the fault of the roads or the infrastructure but of the drivers and/or operators of the vehicles. Most crashes are preventable and are caused by driver error, negligence or aggressive behaviour. It is often the nut behind the wheel who is responsible for such crashes rather than the vehicle or the road.
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Is a truck ban the solution to truck-related crashes in Antipolo?
The crash near Masinag Junction in Antipolo City that led fatalities, injuries, damage to property and terrific costs due to the congestion was caused by a truck that apparently had defective brakes. I’ve read some posts on social media calling for a truck ban in Antipolo City. Some comments go as far as specifying major roads like Sumulong Highway and Marcos Highway where a truck ban can be ‘most effective’.
Is a truck ban in Antipolo City and particularly along major roads like Marcos Highway and Sumulong Highway going to solve truck-related road safety issues? It should have some success but it does not address the root causes of the problem. Among these root causes are related to driver behaviour and the maintenance or condition of trucks. Issues pertaining to driver behaviour can be seen in the form of aggressive or reckless driving (e.g., speeding trucks, trucks weaving in traffic, overtaking at critical sections, etc.). Meanwhile, issues pertaining to vehicle maintenance/condition can be seen in instances where trucks climbing Sumulong Highway, Marcos Highway or Ortigas Ave. Extension tend to slow down traffic (overloaded and/or underpowered?) as well as in crashes involving the malfunctioning braking systems. These cannot be addressed through truck bans, which are likely to be more effective for cases of severe congestion that can be directly attributed to trucks.
A truck ban will only punish the good (read: disciplined and competent) drivers and responsible truckers/truck operators. Good drivers know their traffic rules and regulations and how to position themselves on the roads as well as the speeds they need to travel by together with mixed traffic. They exercise caution especially along areas where there are a lot of pedestrian activity (e.g., Masinag area, Mambugan, Cogeo, Tikling, Cainta Junction, etc.). Meanwhile, responsible trucking company operators would likely have more structured or organised maintenance regimes for their trucks and likely would have newer and standard (read: non-modified) vehicles in their fleets. These would be able to carry load according to their specifications and maneuver safely in varying traffic and road conditions. On a larger scale, truck bans will definitely have a detrimental impact on logistics that will carry over to the local economy as well as Antipolo is the origin of many goods/freight and much also pass through the city.
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Fatal road crash at Masinag, Antipolo City
I learned this evening about a major road crash that occurred at the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City in the late afternoon. This was probably why there was a tremendous buildup of vehicles along Aurora Boulevard near Katipunan. Marcos Highway’s capacity is already reduced due to the ongoing construction of the LRT Line 2 Extension from Santolan, Pasig City to Masinag. A major traffic incident like the one this afternoon surely affects traffic along this very busy corridor connecting the already densely populated eastern cities and towns (i.e., Marikina, Antipolo, Cainta) with Metropolitan Manila. This was actually along one of my usual routes between my workplace and my home in Antipolo. Today, however, I decided to take Ortigas Ave. Extension as advised by Waze.
I had written about Marcos Highway already being a killer highway (Another killer: highway…, August 6, 2014) though I think it is not at the level of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. Still, the potential is high for road crashes occurring along Marcos Highway and this potential has increased due to the hazards posed by the construction works between Santolan and Masinag. As they say, such crashes are disasters waiting to happen and such a disaster in terms of both lives lost and traffic congestion costs happened this afternoon when a truck plowed into a building at Masinag.
Hopefully, this crash will be an eye opener and would lead to immediate actions from the LGUs and agencies responsible for ensuring safe roads and safe travels to commuters passing through Masinag Junction and the two major highways converging there, Marcos Highway and Sumulong Highway.
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Safe steps – Road Safety
I would like to share on an initiative that’s close to my heart – road safety. I had been part of several road safety initiatives before and continue to be part of several today. I have also been doing research on pedestrian and cycling safety together with my students as part of our institute’s research agenda. Here is an example of very good promotional material on road safety including videos highlighting relevant statistics on safety that we should be aware of as well as encourage us to act and contribute towards safer roads for everyone.
Featured in the videos is Road Safety Ambassador Michelle Yeoh, whom people might remember for the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” that now has sequel at Netflix. I had the honor and pleasure of meeting her many years ago when she was in Manila to speak on road safety at the Asian Development Bank’s Transport Forum. In fact, she visited the University of the Philippines Diliman to inaugurate the road safety and traffic discipline zone that is the campus core and along the Academic Oval. I had the privilege of driving her around the oval on an electric jeepney.
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Biking/cycling in Japan: Can we achieve a similar environment here?
I biked a lot when I stayed in Japan for long periods in four separate periods. These include a 35-day stint in Tokyo, 3 years in Yokohama, and 1.5-month and 3-month stays in Saitama. What I discovered was a safe environment for cycling where motorists generally respect cyclists using the road and sharing road space is a given. I could even use the sidewalk and share it with pedestrians. People seemed to know how to position themselves and respect each others’ right to use facilities, giving way to each other.
Here’s a link to a nice article a friend shared on social media:
Why Tokyo is home to many cyclists but so few bike lanes
My friend also resided in Japan for a few years where I’m sure he also used a bicycle to get around. Hopefully, we can be like the Japanese in terms of how people respect each others’ right to travel as well as one’s choice of transport mode. While it would be nice to have bike lanes (and protected ones at that) this exclusiveness is not an assurance that a similar culture of sharing and respect will develop. Is it a culture thing? Do we need to be encouraged (or forced) to modify behavior? These are but a few questions that need answers and not just by the typical “if you build them, they will come” statement that seems to have become a mantra for hardliners. A more holistic approach is required and it does not come as a surprise that basic transport infrastructure and more efficient services are necessary prerequisite to achieve such a sharing and respectful society.
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Voyeurism
This seems to be an unusual topic for this blog. However, I thought I’d comment about voyeurism in relation to transport or traffic as I observed a lot of people having cameras installed on their vehicle’s dash boards and local government units utilizing CCTV cameras for monitoring traffic.
In the case of LGUs, while there are already many cases where action was taken by authorities for traffic violations and other anomalies that they see on their camera, there are still as many cases when there are no actions taken to address issues. These include instances where CCTV cameras recorded reckless driving or riding and the videos were clear enough to identify the vehicles involved. These videos were likely not used to
Then there is the concern with motorists who have dash cams and are able to record reckless driving and other issues as they travel. Some post their videos on social media with the more interesting ones becoming click baits as they are shared by many. I found it disturbing that people take videos of road crashes and appear not to help the victims. They are essentially voyeurs, too. Posting these things on social media doesn’t count as help. It seems insensitive and unemphatic for people to be recording stuff and saying something about how these shouldn’t be and yet do nothing about the situation. Certainly, these are sins of omission that can be regarded along the lines of the sins committed that they recorded and shared.
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Counterflow culture: pang-iisa
There are several videos currently circulating in social media showing counter-flowing motorists. In one, a driver with a camera on his dashboard proactively positions his vehicle along the middle lane of the correct side of the road and engages a counterflowing motorist who initially appeared as if he were going to insist on his wrong behavior (feeling entitled perhaps?). The driver with the dash cam didn’t budge or give way and the errant driver had to go back to his correct lane.
In another, more serious video, another dash cam records a scene along a curved 2-lane section of Marcos Highway where an oncoming motorcycle slammed into a counterflowing vehicle coming from the left side of the vehicle with the dashcam. It was clear that the counterflowing motorist violated the double yellow line rule, which led to the dreadful crash.
These are examples of what seems to be a counterflow epidemic among many motorists. Counterflowing is not only prevalent among motorcycles and public utility vehicles but among private vehicles as well. There are even those who follow emergency vehicles that legitimately and urgently use the opposing traffic lane. This behavior seems to be associated with these motorists wanting to get ahead of others. In Filipino or Tagalog, the term is translated to pang-iisa or gustong maka-isa (wanting to get one up on other people). This behavior can be attributed to a person being impatient, undisciplined, reckless, feeling entitled, or – all of the above.
Such issues could have been preempted by a stricter licensing system that can be administered by the Land Transportation Office (LTO). However, since many already have their licenses then the burden for correcting such behavior falls upon traffic enforcement agencies and their personnel including the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and the MMDA. Hopefully, such errant behavior can be corrected and our roads can be safer for all users.
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Caught (up) in traffic 