Drunk driving, death and apathy

A few months back, basketball bud and fellow Philippine STAR columnist Bill Velasco took up the cudgels for the beleaguered family of Kenji Kenneth James Kanai, a young basketball prodigy from Benedictine International School. Bill did so because Kenji, who would have been either the La Salle Green Archers’ or the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ best new bet at the point guard position in the UAAP basketball wars, is dead. Kenji died last July when an errant vehicle crashed onto a car he was alighting from beneath the pedestrian overpass along Katipunan Avenue in front of the Ateneo de Manila campus. Because of the strength and violence of the impact, Kenji’s ribs were shattered and part of his right arm was torn off, resulting in massive blood loss. Since police and emergency personnel were unable to extricate him from the vehicle immediately, the 16-year-old athlete bled to death.

The harrowing story was featured prominently not only in Bill’s column but also in an accompanying story in The STAR, as well as in a couple of ABS-CBN’s news shows. Kenji’s story has also since been picked up by other media outfits. The sad fact of the matter, however, is that up to this day, there seems to be no resolution to the case. According to Kenji’s coach, Beaujing Acot, another basketball bud, although the driver of the car that rammed onto the parked vehicle that Kenji was alighting from seemed to reek of alcohol on the night of the accident, he was never tested for alcohol and/or drugs. And this, as any Juan, Dick and Harry is aware of, is supposedly standard procedure whenever traffic accidents occur.

Unfortunately, recent developments have made it clear that Kenji’s case just might end up as another one of those stories with shock value that will stir up emotions at the onset, then die down after all the news stories have been printed and all the gory clips have been shown. Bill explains that the case was recently inexplicably transferred from the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to the Metropolitan Trial Court and that reckless imprudence resulting in homicide (which was the case filed against the erring driver) only carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison. In such cases, the suspect involved, even if convicted, will likely only be given probation. In other words, there is a big possibility that the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident will probably never be incarcerated.

Now, people who have been involved with Kenji’s case since day one — Bill and Beaujing included — are screaming for justice. But theirs is a cause that you and the person next to you could only really empathize with, but not really grasp. Kenji, you see, is gone. And, let’s face it, you don’t know him. In fact, I don’t know him. To me, as it is I’m sure to you and to the policemen who handled the case initially and to the lawyers who are working on it now and to the judge presently assigned to it — Kenji is just a statistic. Kenji is a number. Kenji is a victim that we’ll eventually forget because he isn’t one of ours. He isn’t our neighbor. He isn’t our friend. He isn’t our son. We don’t know Kenji, and because we see him as a stranger, we will eventually turn a blind eye to his family’s plight and his fate.

Most likely, then, we will go on with our lives after reading this piece and shake our heads at the sorry state of our justice system. We will go on with our lives after we have talked about how drunk driving ought to be stopped. We will go on with our lives and then shrug our shoulders and leave the effort to educate our children on the proper use of roads and vehicles to those who want to be involved. Why would we want to be involved? Kenji’s fight for justice belongs to those who cared about him — not to us. Our apathy, if you think about it, is simply a natural reaction.

Here’s news for you, though. We ought to be concerned. Why? Because Kenji, although just a statistic to you now, is one among a growing number of our children who die in traffic related incidents daily. In fact, a recent study revealed that 11 Filipino children die on the road every hour, either as pedestrians or passengers of vehicles. Kenji, again if you look at it from a nonchalant perspective, is only one among many, then. But what if — just what if — the next number in that growing list of adolescent fatalities turns out to be someone you know? A 16-year-old kid’s death may mean nothing to you now because he’s a 16-year-old kid you don’t know. Must you wait ’til the next 16-year-old kid who gets crushed by a rampaging vehicle driven by a drunkard is someone you know, then?

Drunk driving must be stopped. Our children must be taught the proper use of roads both as pedestrians and as passengers and drivers of vehicles so that they can avoid falling into the list of unwitting victims of road accidents. And all this must be done NOW.

I cannot offer anything to the family of Kenji Kanai. I cannot bring him back or force the driver of the car that hit him to admit guilt. I cannot, even as I write, influence the judge who’s handling Kenji’s case to pass on a guilty verdict. Heck, I cannot even pass the verdict myself because apparently, we can never really prove now if the driver of the car that hit Kenji was indeed drunk. And I cannot, for the life of me, write anything eloquent enough to erase the stigma from the mind of a mother who had to identify the gruesome broken body of a promising young son in a cold, dark morgue. But I’ll be damned if I let this case go by without making noise and trying to convince others to work to educate our children on the proper use of our roads. I will not stop trying to convince readers of this column to take up arms and to take the request for the inclusion of road safety seminars to your children’s schools. Even if there is no hope for justice for Kenji (which I sincerely hope is still not the case), I will still do my utmost best to at least give his death meaning. I hope you do the same as well. Kenji and the rest of the children we’ve lost to drunk driving and our subsequent apathy deserve at least that much.

To those who would like to help in the education of our future road users, there is a private effort currently being conducted by the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) in cooperation with Toyota Motor Philippines. The SPMJ is hoping to garner the help of concerned parents in lobbying for our seminars to be conducted in your children’s schools. There will be no charge whatsoever. We will come to your children’s schools over a weekend (Friday and Saturday) and conduct seminars with professional educators in tow. All we need is to identify which schools are ready and willing to step forward for the good of their students. You may reach us by emailing us at [email protected] or by calling/texting our hotline at 0906-2658152. Thank you, by the way, to reader Angelo Flores, who was the first parent to come forward and present his children’s school as a target for the ongoing road safety project.

Here are some Backseat Driver comments and questions from last week.

Why do traffic enforcers encourage us to break rules like blocking intersections, counter flow and running red lights? — 09178144789 (Fellow Philippine STAR columnist Federico Pascual calls it "the mis-education of the Filipino motorist". We tend to agree with him.)

Who is really mandated to make apprehensions of drivers of new cars without plates? I’ve always been apprehended by MAPSA personnel only. More power! — 09178331236 (Your question opens up a can of worms, or rather, it shows the sorry state of our traffic management system. All traffic related personnel — from the MMDA to the local authorities of each municipality in Metro Manila — can accost any driver who may have violated any law. There is no centralized system of apprehension.)

Chairman BF, looks like your men are operating a toll gate at EDSA Makati southbound lane adjacent to SM. — 09189412617

Do the istambays at Cordillera corner Nagtahan link road have a franchise to collect toll fees from motorists and non- payers? 09178459239 (Absolutely not! You are not the first motorist to experience this phenomenon, though. Calling the authorities in the area!)

Mr. Deakin, I sympathize with your experience with the AUV, but I think you’re not telling us the whole story. You must have honked your horn at the driver of the AUV. — 09175394575 (Perhaps our columnist did. But his point was does anything so trivial justify a violent reaction?)

Road rage! An Elf driver I refused to cut into my lane harrassed me and my wife on our way to Eastwood recently. It was scary! It’s getting really bad! — 09178810718

Why can’t the MMDA or traffic enforcers apprehend vehicles running without headlights at night? It’s dangerous to pedestrians and other motorists. — 09265300927 (You have a point. Maybe they ought to work extended hours.)

Southbound vehicles at EDSA are at risk when approaching the Rockwell overpass. The holes near the island are about a foot deep! — 09175381233

I have a 1990 Toyota Cressida. I’ve emailed several Toyota branches to inquire on parts and manuals to no avail. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks! 09187707465 (We forwarded your query to our friends from Toyota Motor Philippines. According to them, it would be best to call Arvin Villegas of the Aftersales Department of TMP at 825-8888. By the way, that’s a great car if you can get it to run in tip-top shape — good luck!)

Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a "Backseat Driver", text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space>MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2333 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.