I recently shared an article about the rise of large vehicles in the US and how they have negatively affected road safety in that country. There are mentions there of the elements that led to people preferring SUVs including the usual technical specifications of SUVs and trucks (what they call the pick-up) that proliferate US roads. These are probably safer for transport from the perspective of the occupants including the driver. However, they are unsafe to other road users especially pedestrians and cyclists. I guess the reasons for owning large vehicles are similar for the Philippine case but there are other stories and reasons behind the preference of large vehicles in many parts of the country. A couple of these are quite common reasons that has nothing to do with people having car-centric mindsets. The latter is probably far from their consciousness.

One reason for preferring larger vehicles is practicality. I first encountered this reason during vacations in Iloilo in the 1970s and 1980s. People had pick-ups and owner type jeeps built for the rough roads at the time. Cars would not have survived the road conditions with the shock absorbers and tires being the first to go. This would probably be the same reason in other provinces as well. The unpaved and poorly maintained roads necessitated pick-ups and the SUV models of those times. Eventually, these evolved into the Pajeros, Patrols and Land Cruisers and later the Monteros, Everests and Fortuners. Add to these the AUVs (e.g., Innova, Adventure, etc.) that also became preferences depending on the affordability to people.

Another reason for preferring larger vehicles is not just about practicality but survival. People from flood prone areas tend to have larger or taller vehicles. Ground clearance is a criteria for vehicles as these have to be able to navigate flooded highways and streets. Most flash floods are probably ankle or gutter deep. But there are more severe situations where floods can be knee or waist-deep. And so people preferred vehicles that can get them out of their flooded homes if not get to their not flooded home but via flooded roads. This comes from first hand experience. After Typhoon Ondoy inundated much of Mega Manila, sales of SUVs and AUVs were up. People replaced their vehicles with these rather than regular cars. They generally didn’t transfer homes as many decided to stay as they probably couldn’t afford to get a new hour or have gotten used to the flood situation in their places. Floods, after all, are seasonal and the Ondoys are not so frequent.

The stories or reasons I cited above are real and will probably be attested to by many who share the experiences in flood-prone and/or rural areas. These narratives though have been set aside or dismissed in favor of the car-centric narrative that’s the in thing these days. If we really look more deeply, the failures of infrastructure development, whether pertaining to basic roads or drainage systems, have tremendous impacts on our lives including our preferences for vehicle types or models. In fact, weren’t those also among the questions for resisting electric vehicles? Kaya na niyan ang rough roads? Kaya ba niyan ang ahon? Kaya ba niyan ang baha? Of course, housing location preferences and options (along with affordability) are also factors. Why live in a flood prone area after all? But that’s another topic that I plan to write about as well very soon. I think I wrote something about this here or in my other blog. I should write about it again and probably in light of the flood control projects that have been the hot topics these past months.

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