‘Abusive’ drivers irk Binay

An employee of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) was given an instant lecture in road discipline last week when he crossed paths with the mayor of Makati City.

Mayor Jejomar Binay was on his way to attend a function last week at the Guadalupe Cloverleaf area when a vehicle suddenly cut in front of his convoy. Binay ordered his driver to go after the vehicle and managed to pull up in front of it, forcing the driver to stop.

The car involved turned out to be a government-owned vehicle which angered Binay further.

The mayor stepped down from his vehicle and scolded the driver of the Napolcom vehicle while giving him a stern lesson in driving etiquette.

In a statement, Binay said that he has received reports that several drivers of government vehicles often violate traffic rules. According to the Makati Police Traffic Enforcement Unit, there have been at least 51 traffic violations recorded last year involving government vehicles.

Most of the violations were illegal counterflow, illegal turning and illegal overtaking. The violators were mostly service vehicles of law enforcement agencies and Makati-based national government offices.

"Drivers of government vehicles, especially law enforcement agencies, should be the ones setting an example on the road. Instead they use their red plates or police identification cards as a license to violate traffic rules," Binay said. — Marvin Sy