EDITORIAL — The moaning reverse alarm

We have all heard it before; the reverse alarm or backup beeper when a large vehicle backs up. It’s supposed to warn people to get out of the way because a large vehicle is reversing slowly and the driver has limited vision in the direction he’s headed.

But what if that reverse alarm was replaced with something else? Something naughty? And what if that reverse alarm was heard in the most unsuitable of places for it to be heard?

This happened recently when a bus owned by the Cebu City government reversed near a church in Lapu-Lapu City and played lewd sound effects publicly during a funeral service.

A video of the incident became viral and the city looked into the incident. They found out that one bus driver had installed the sound effects and used it against the advice of his fellow city bus drivers.

We all have different levels of humor and different types of taste. In another context and setting, those lewd sounds effects might even pass off as something funny. But traffic safety must always be treated seriously, and reverse alarms must always be something that can catch the attention of people to alert them of impending danger.

That was strike one.

Strike two was the fact that the offending bus, rather, the bus that emitted the offending sounds was a vehicle owned by the local government unit. Everyone who works for the city government represents in, including bus drivers, all vehicles owned by the city are expected also represent it. So far a city bus driver to play lewd sound effects on a city bus can make the public think poorly of the entire city government.

Strike three was the fact that the reverse alarm was played near a church and during as a funeral service. That place was a holy ground and that occasion was a somber one. It was neither place nor occasion to show a crude sense of humor.

Needless to say, action must be taken to make sure such an incident doesn’t happen again. Certainly not from someone who represents the city and from a vehicle owned by the city government.