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Article share: on improving road safety in the midst of automobile dependency and sprawl
I am sharing another very informative article on road safety. While it is written for North American cities, most concepts and principles presented are applicable elsewhere and especially in cities and municipalities that tend to model their development after America. Increasing dependence on private vehicles (not just automobiles but including motorized two and three-wheelers) have resulted in increasing incidence of road crashes and though we have limited space, we tend to develop land as if we can afford sprawl and its consequences. Here is the article:
Litman, T. (April 25, 2025) “End Human Sacrifices to the Demanding Gods of Automobile Dependency and Sprawl,” Planetizen, https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/134838-end-human-sacrifices-demanding-gods-automobile-dependency-and-sprawl?utm_source=Planetizen+Updates&utm_campaign=d3fcb4d16b-newswire_05_05_25&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-6cce27a957-89144212&mc_cid=d3fcb4d16b&mc_eid=9ccfe464b1 [Last accessed: 16/05/2025]
To quote from the article:
“North American transportation agencies currently apply various older strategies, which should not be ignored, but to achieve additional crash reductions they need new strategies, such as those listed in the following table. The older strategies are targeted programs applied after most major transportation and land use planning decisions are made. New strategies include structural reforms involving more multimodal transportation planning, more compact development, transportation demand management incentives and parking policy reforms. This recognizes that all types of planning decisions affect transportation safety, and that many policies can increase safety in addition to other economic, social and environmental benefits.
The new paradigm expands traffic safety strategies to include structural reforms that increase transport system diversity and efficiency. They tend to provide many economic, social and environmental benefits in addition to safety.”
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Let’s act on road safety crisis!
May is Road Safety Month. It’s quite ironic that we started the month with some of the most gruesome crashes including one at SCTEX and another at NAIA. There is indeed a crisis on road safety but many are in denial or perhaps insensitive to the impacts of these crashes. We need to act and only together can we be most effective in reducing the risks for all road users.
So what can one do? How can one contribute to making roads safer? Sharing this poster from the Road Safety Research Laboratory (RSRL) of the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) of the University of the Philippines:
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On gruesome road crashes and how they are reported
The past days have been terrible in terms of road crashes that have been reported. Of particular interest is the one last week involving four vehicles – a provincial bus slamming into 2 passenger vehicles against a stopped truck, and crushing both vehicles and their occupants. This was along SCTEX as vehicles were approaching a toll plaza. The trucks and passenger vehicles were stopped in a queue when a bus slammed into them. As of now the reports state at least 10 have lost their lives. One child miraculously survived the crash but lost both parents as per reports.
While mainstream media seems to be still conservative in how they report these incidents, social media offers much graphic, unedited content. Last Thursday and Friday, friends have shared posts by different people who have videoed the aftermath. It was gruesome and I will not describe them here nor share those videos that also appeared in my Facebook as reels. While there is the shock effect to the shared videos, one wonders whether these ultimately contribute to improving road safety or just add to what is now regarded as another category of porn (you’ve probably heard or read about food porn, tourism porn, shopping porn and poverty porn). These now have become more like spectacles that are viewed more for (sick) entertainment rather than to move people to action to address the road safety issues we face. While there are many responses offering comfort or prayers, how many would really act and actively call for safer transportation? As one friend exclaims – “Where’s the rage?”
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On reckless driving and riding, road rage, and kamotes
A story went viral a couple of weeks ago about a motorcycle rider getting shot by a driver. Many discussions and videos have been shared with some sympathetic to the driver and others to the riders. One thing is definite from the videos shared when you filter the commentaries and biased opinions – both the driver and the riders are guilty of reckless driving or riding. With all due respect to the root crop often invoked and associated with these kinds of motorists, kamotes as they are called seem to have increased no thanks to many of these learning to operate motor vehicles without being properly trained, oriented, evaluated and tested if they deserve having licenses. The increase and documentation of incidents of road rage should be taken very seriously by the LTO and serve as reference for improving the licensing system.
Here’s an informative material on reckless driving from the National Center for Transportation Studies’ Road Safety Research Laboratory:
This Holy Week, there are many who are using the roads whether for long distance travel (e.g., spending the holidays in their hometowns away from the metro) or for the typical religious trips (e.g., pilgrimages, Visita Iglesia, etc.). Motorists should exercise caution as they drive or ride. We should be more mindful of the impacts of our behavior to other travelers whom we share the roads with.
Safe travels to all!
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On bike lanes contributing to safer roads
Do bike lanes make roads safer? There are obviously mixed reaction to this question especially if you look as social media. If we are level headed about this topic and look at the evidence out there, the answer is yes. But there can be caveats as we try to contextualize in the local setting. The formal studies so far are in countries where the drivers arguably more disciplined than ours here in the Philippines. Driver behavior, after all, is a major factor for road traffic safety. Here is a good article for reference in the discussions and arguments for bike lanes:
Tu, Maylin (November 5, 2024) “How Bike Lanes Slow Drivers and Save Lives,” Next City, https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/how-bike-lanes-slow-drivers-and-save-lives [Last accessed: 11/10/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Bike lanes with physical delineators (cones or bollards) were more effective than paint-only lanes at calming traffic, echoing a popular mantra for bike activists: “Paint is not protection.” (The lanes were not protected, however, because drivers could drive over the delineators.) For vehicles turning right, top speeds were reduced by 28% and average speeds by 21%. Paint-only bike lanes slowed driver speeds by up to 14% and drivers going straight slowed down by up to 8%…
The study adds that pop-up bike lanes are a cost-effective solution for studying the effects of more permanent solutions — after all, you could just borrow the traffic cones. A city could quickly implement pop-up or temporary infrastructure. Then, armed with data and community feedback, they could invest in making the changes permanent.”
The article also points to a technical paper or scientific article on the traffic calming effect of bike lanes. Here is the link to the article published in the Journal of Urban Mobility: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urbmob.2024.100071
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Sharing the road with persons with disabilities
The wife took this photo as we were turning at the roundabout at Tikling Junction in Taytay, Rizal. I just wanted to share this here for everyone’s awareness that there are those of us traveling who have certain disabilities that may not be so obvious. We probably see people on wheelchairs or special vehicles like those you’d find along Cainta roads especially near or in the vicinity of Tahanang Walang Hagdanan. And then there are those with PWD stickers on their motor vehicles. But are we aware and sensitive to the needs of others like this deaf cyclist? There should be policies to ensure their safety as they should be able to travel for whatever purpose they may have similar to our senior citizens and children who are among the most vulnerable road users. And drivers and riders should have the training and the empathy to share the road with them.
Deaf rider along Tikling Junction, Taytay, Rizal – not all would probably have a vest like this and motorists likely would be oblivious to their situation. There will also be pedestrians with similar circumstances who have natural disabilities. Irresponsible would those who are “deafened” by their gadgets like those wearing earphones or headphones while riding or walking. –
On the idea of congestion pricing
I purposely titled this post to include the word ‘idea’ as congestion pricing is still very much like that in the Philippines. It is a reality in some part of the world particularly in Singapore where its Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) has evolved and improved over the years. Its success though seems to be an exceptional case that has not been replicated elsewhere where conditions are not exactly like the city state’s.
Here is an article that recently came out from The Washington Post about the New York Governor’s decision to backtrack on the proposed congestion pricing initiative in New York City:
McArdle, M. (June 12, 2024) “People hate traffic. They also hate this great idea to clear it,” The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/12/congestion-pricing-great-idea-people-hate/ [Last accessed: 6/14/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Roads are a scarce good; you can fit only so many cars on a road at one time, and fewer if you would like those cars to go somewhere. When roads are “free,” we are forced to fall back on a more costly and inefficient strategy: sitting in traffic. This wastes valuable human time and inflicts noise and pollution on everyone nearby. Far better to charge a modest price that inspires some drivers to carpool and others to take public transit or shop nearer to home, until supply and demand are balanced and traffic flows easily…
In political disputes, a discrete group facing highly concentrated costs often defeats a larger public interest that conveys a small individual benefit to everybody — such as being able to move around the city faster when you really need to. This is particularly true in the American system, which is designed to empower angry minorities. And it’s especially true when they’re abetted by status quo bias and a sympathetic majority, as in this case.
Complain all you want about selfish suburban drivers or the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s bloated cost structure or Hochul’s cowardice; the biggest obstacle to congestion pricing is that almost two-thirds of New York City residents have told pollsters they oppose it — in a city where less than half of all households even own a car. A more technocratic, less democratically responsive government might have been able to ram it through, and perhaps in time everyone would have come to like it. But in fractious America, with all its political veto points, congestion pricing is doomed by the reality that people hate slapping prices on things — especially if they have to pay them.”
There is a congestion pricing proposal in Baguio City and we don’t know yet how this will go. I don’t have the details yet except that a private company whose core business is tollways is involved. Will this be a model or a proof of concept? Or will it just go the way of a typical tollway where users are those who are willing to pay and which would eventually congest if most of the current users pay and use it anyway? Will the funds generated be used to develop a more efficient transport system for Baguio, eventually leading and contributing to less congested streets? That would also mean eventually less revenues from the congestion pricing scheme and probably lead to it being unnecessary.
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On kamote riders
Much has been written and reported about the so-called ‘kamote’ riders. These are motorcyclists who have the propensity for risky behavior including reckless maneuvers on the road. Such often places them in harm’s way whether they are conscious about the actions or not. I see them everyday during my commutes including but not limited to those who counterflow, speed, race, zig-zag through moving traffic, and use the bicycle lanes or pedestrian sidewalks.
The not so obvious kamote rider positioning himself at the downspout of a concrete mixer.
Not all motorcycle riders are kamote. However, there is a significant number of them out there that put other road users in risky situations. They also contribute to a lot of damage to property as evidenced by a lot of vehicles, especially cars, that have the signature scratches, dinks and dents after being sideswiped or bumped by motorcycles. Such behavior can actually be corrected if the Land Transportation Office (LTO) would be stricter with licensing – requiring more in terms of rider training and certification as well as testing. Traffic law enforcement is also critical here because behavior change can only be done and effective if enforcers are firm. A friend made the observation that law enforcers themselves are the first to violate rules and regulations or bend them in their favor. That sends a wrong signal and would only encourage more ‘pasaway’ and ‘kamote’ riders.
Of course, there are also kamote drivers and cyclists. But those are the topics for future posts.
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Article share – on aircraft evacuations and the case of JL516
Here is a very informative article on aircraft emergency evacuations, particularly the case of the recent JAL 516 where all passengers and crew were able to evacuate the burning aircraft.
Tamura, Y. (January 7, 2024) “Why the Evacuation of 379 Passengers from the Burning JAL516 Wasn’t a Miracle,” Medium, https://medium.com/japonica-publication/why-the-evacuation-of-379-passengers-from-the-jal-collision-wasnt-a-miracle-8a03cb02a95c [Last accessed: 3/4/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Japan is said to have become earthquake-resilient over the decades, but it’s less known that the same applies to aircraft accidents.
As the oldest Japanese airline company partially founded by the government in 1951, the history of JAL encapsulates the narrative of Japan’s aviation industry, punctuated by significant accidents.
It is none other than JAL that experienced the worst-ever airplane crash in the world. In 1985, JAL123 crashed into a mountain approximately 100 km from Tokyo.
The crash, believed to have been triggered by improper maintenance of the aft pressure bulkhead, caused 520 fatalities, the largest loss of life in a single aircraft.A former JAL employee comments that those who have survived traumatic incidents often grapple with returning to their duties in the sky. Despite this difficulty, they also carry a deep sense of responsibility to impart their experiences to younger crew members, contributing to the commitment to safety.
I agree that the successful evacuation was not a miracle but a product of the training and dedication of the staff as well as the culture and behavior that was very obviously Japanese. One wonders what could have happened if this were, say, an airliner from a third world country? Or perhaps even one from a country like the US? Would the evacuation have been successful like JL516’s?
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On recent airline incidents in Japan and the US
There were two recent incidents involving airlines the past days. One was on a collision as a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 jet arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The other was a midair incident where an Alaskan Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost part of its fuselage. While both are troubling, the first incident provided a good example of how emergency evacuations should be. The second incident reminds us of the importance of aircraft maintenance and tests to make sure planes are safe for use by passengers.
To quote from a New York Times article on the Haneda Airport incident:
“In addition to a well-trained crew and an advanced plane, the safe evacuation of 367 passengers came down to a relative absence of panic.”
I think that basically described “how to survive a plane crash” in the context of the collision at the airport, where passengers and crew had to evacuate the plane immediately.
Meanwhile, the B737 Max crash is a cause of concern since the model was already involved in previous crashes that caused the planes to be grounded worldwide. There will be an investigation on this incident and perhaps the outcomes can help address the problems concerning the aircraft. On the business side, such incidents will further convince airliners to reconsider acquisition and operations of these planes. I am sure they are already thinking about replacing the B737’s with the competition’s aircraft (e.g., A319, A320 or A321).
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Caught (up) in traffic 