EDITORIAL – Instead of HID, try motorbikes

Cebu City councilor Edgardo Labella has filed a proposed resolution seeking a ban on the use of extra bright headlamps on motor vehicles, saying these can cause accidents. He probably means the HID, or high intensity discharge, lamps that is the current craze among motorists.

There is no doubt the intention of Labella is good. In fact, the extra bright headlamps do produce too much glare that they can indeed be dangerous. But good intentions and valid concerns alone are often not enough to craft a law, especially one that may have many opponents.

For one, the HID lamps are quite expensive, selling for up to P10,000 per set. As such, they are considered items of luxury. Given the nature of the Filipino, that makes them the thing to have. And by common observation, many do now have the HID lamps.

To counter the expected opposition from HID users and HID sellers, who obviously must be making a killing from the current fad, Labella has to show that the extra bright lamps are in fact dangerous.

To do that, however, Labella has to produce the statistics. He must come up with the figures that show, without equivocation or doubt, that any number of accidents are directly attributable to HID lamps.

And that is where the proposed ban of Labella is likely to hit a snag, because as far as most people know, while HID lamps are in fact annoying to many motorists, there has so far been no real telling that they indeed can cause accidents.

On the contrary, many HID lamps already come actually with the cars they are on. An increasing number of car manufacturers have installed HID lamps on their newer models believing they are not only more efficient but actually safer. And that should be the voice of expertise.

It is still too early to predict the fate of the Labella proposal. But while we are on the subject of road safety, perhaps the good councilor can direct his energies against a real road menace that the city council can actually do something about.

We refer to the growing practice of motorcycle drivers to drive against traffic on the opposite lane. Legal action on this one does not require any statistics because the practice is already illegal as it is. What is needed is to compel authorities to act and do their jobs.