EDITORIAL - Still a dangerous highway

Two weeks after a bus smashed a taxi and killed journalist Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, 10 people were injured in a collision between a jeepney and a van at the same spot the other day. The spot is a U-turn slot in front of the UP Ayala Techno Hub, where vehicles must make a sharp right from the tip of the traffic barrier to reach the techno hub.

The widely publicized death of Simbulan has not sufficiently deterred motorists from taking the same path to the techno hub, or from violating the speed limit on Commonwealth: 60 kilometers per hour for public utility vehicles and 70 kph for private ones.

In the days after Simbulan’s death, traffic cops and aides of the Metro Manila Development Authority increased their presence along Commonwealth, apprehending scores of motorists who violated the speed limit. For doing their job, some of the traffic cops reportedly got a scolding from a bratty actor who probably thought he was above the law – a common problem for traffic enforcers in this country. Think of what it’s like when traffic cops apprehend individuals whose self-inflated view of their importance is even greater than that of bratty actors. Will traffic cops give lawmakers and other public officials citation tickets for breaking the speed limit on Commonwealth?

Closed-circuit TV cameras are supposed to help, but the MMDA said the U-turn slot in question is a blind spot for CCTVs. Without evidence from a CCTV, investigators are still trying to determine which bus hit Simbulan’s taxi. The cabbie said his taxi was first sideswiped by a bus before being smashed by a second one, which he identified as a Universal Guiding Star bus.

Speeding along Commonwealth is compounded by the recklessness of pedestrians, who cross the wide avenue wherever they please. In a TV interview, some of the pedestrians said they left their fate to God. No doubt their boldness arose from the belief that they wouldn’t be apprehended and penalized for jaywalking.

Some experts have said an avenue like Commonwealth has no place in a crowded metropolis. But the avenue is already there and can’t be shut down. The next best thing is to make sure it is made safe for both motorists and pedestrians. It shouldn’t prove to be an impossible task.