Reducing road rage

Perhaps it is just sheer coincidence, but less than three weeks after I wrote an open letter to all the mayors, councilors and local government officials, pleading for them to create an ordinance to limit the amount of alcohol one can have before being allowed to drive, the Makati City mayor’s office has just confirmed in a telephone call that they are reactivating a 2003 ordinance that limits drivers to a blood alcohol limit of .06, and will begin enforcing it with the use of breathalyzers.

Also this week, after several years of banging on the topic here in these very pages, which eventually led to a meeting with DOTC assistant secretary Lantin last month, an online report now claims that Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. of Abante Mindanao, have just filed House Bill 6395, which is seeking to have all buses fitted with electronic speed limiters. Coincidence? Who cares. I’m just mighty proud that we’ve got some people in power who are not afraid to force change. And to you, sirs, I say thank you.

But as much as I would love to spend the rest of this column tooting your horns, if you’ll forgive me, there are plenty more issues that need attention and coincidences that need to be created. So just as I have been doing over the last couple of months, I will donate these 800 words to just one topic at a time so that it doesn’t get overwhelming and perhaps make it more manageable for someone in power to take ownership of it. 

While it’s hot on everyone’s keyboards right now, let’s talk about road rage. It took a man wearing a purple shirt to bring this back into the spotlight, but the disturbing reality here is, there are plenty more cases of those with better fashion sense that are not being captured on video and served up on a plate for social media to feast on. 

So let’s break down the problem. 

It is easy to sit here and tap away at my laptop calling for castration or the online crucifixion for this Robert ‘Blair’ Carabuena and his brother, but as tempting as that is, and as much as I support Senator Marcos’ road rage law, which seeks to increase penalties for incidents of violence stemming from road rage, let’s start at the trickier part first: prevention. 

While there will always be exceptions, road rage almost always seems to be a product of frustration. If we could reduce the frustration, we should dramatically reduce the confrontations. 

Aside from traffic, potholes and inconsiderate drivers, a major source of frustration seems to stem from the discriminate application of the law. The feeling that this elicits is primal and can bring out the animal in almost anyone. Say I have been lining up patiently for ten minutes on the left lane to turn left and some douche bag cuts in front of the line from the right and is just ignored, or worse, waved through by an enforcer, that’s a flash point right there.

Respect is a two-way street and the fastest way to turn it into a dead end is by selective apprehension. 

I’m not suggesting this is what happened to Mang Saturnino Fabros (we know from eye-witness statements that it was Carabuena running a red light), and am certainly not condoning what the Carabuena brothers did, but if the agency was to punish the traffic enforcer with suspension, re-training without pay, or expulsion, I guarantee you that you would see the laws being enforced more consistently, and in turn, more respect and patience being given by motorists. It’s all about creating a sense of equality.

Also, it would help if all traffic enforcers were licensed drivers. How can you enforce the rules when you don’t even know how to play game? There’s a natural empathy that can only come from another person who drives. Without that, there’s a fundamental disconnect that usually only leads to even more frustration—much like a basketball coach trying to coach baseball. 

Now, assuming our enforcers are all on board, the next vital step comes from each and every road user. Please, do not drive like the street was named after you. If everyone would just drive with the assumption that they knew each and every person around them, and treated them like they would if they were face to face and not wearing two tons of expensive metal and tinted glass, road rage would be as common as random mall brawls. I know a car gives people a false sense of anonymity, but sooner or later, if you act like that, you are bound to cut off someone you know, or worse, someone you know with a camera phone and a Facebook account. 

Email [email protected].