I was watching an episode of Don't Drive here by Discovery Channel featuring Manila and I can't help but laugh at the funny comments the guy is giving. Before anyone get's angry (*cough-cough* Dan Brown's book), remember that it's supposed to be a light show and what he mentioned in the show are problems which we experience daily.
Some problems identified in the show (Spoiler alert):
1) Getting a license
Easy-peasy! This is why a lot of drivers do not know how to read even the most basic road signs! Heck, they might not even know what a red light means! The drug test is even harder according to him as you have to pee with the door open, which never happened to me by the way.
2) Tricycle
The tricycle or what he calls a motorcycle taxi is not even inspected and this has caused a lot of accidents which resulted to death. I know someone who was killed by one of these unregulated, no quality transportation mode with no seat belts and can let you ride in whatever way you want (as seen on TV) and I recommend that you should really ride a tricycle at your own risk.
3) Cause of traffic/ accidents as identified in the show?
-Pedestrians jay walking wherever there's a space
-Jeepneys stopping and going wherever they want
-People pushing carts
-Vendors selling stuff in the middle of the road (Are they even BIR registered!?)
In short, it's the "me first" attitude. People cross without looking, push carts disregarding the traffic flow similar to pedicabs (kuligligs) and stopping wherever the driver feels like stopping.
4) Jeepneys
They are World War 2 vehicles that was adopted by the Filipinos. They just made it over decorated and elongated it from the original but some of these jeepneys have home made everything, including the gearbox! That's crazy! There will be no quality control and this is why they are accident prone. Crazy driver + No QA jeepney = Accident waiting to happen! And not only that, they are also contributing largely to the air pollution which causes respiratory problems. (The bus and FXs are major contributors to air pollution aside from the jeepneys).
5) Car Vs Public Transportation
It's been said that the system we have in place is already outdated but the number of vehicles tripled! With this, the average speed when in Manila is just around 6 to 10 kilometers per hour! That's crazy slow but yes, I experience that firsthand and EDSA during rush hour is one of the places you can try that traffic crawl. An average person spends a thousand hours a year in traffic as per the video. Wow! Time to invest in a better car to be stuck in for a thousand hours a year!
So, why still own a car when you'll have the problem of traffic and parking? Because as seen in the video, to go do a simple grocery task will require you to take 2-3 different modes of transportation like the tricycle, jeepney and bus in some occasions!
6) Laws are Disragarded
Can you see those people crossing just anywhere? Cars beating the read light and doing whatever they want to do and the officer actually doing nothing because he doesn't want to delay the traffic flow? Well, that's one of the problems there as seen firsthand.
Aside from the laughs from Andrew Younghusband (host), there's really something to this episode of Don't Drive Here. Truth might hurt like the "Gates of Hell" comment but what can you do if that's the way other people see it? Unless they see change, it will always be like that and change needs to come from within.
Got the video from Youtube. Click here to download the video: http://keepvid.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeyzF4JPEmAE
Cheftonio
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