EDITORIAL — Another test case?

A policeman died after a bus entered his lane and hit his motorcycle early morning last Sunday in Barangay Inoburan, Carcar City.

At first glance it has the makings of a cookie-cutter tragic tale with a clear victim and offender. One on hand you have the victim policeman who was cut down just as he was about to retire after many years of service. On the other you have the reckless bus driver whose actions led to tragedy.

In fact he has been vilified online although, we feel, unfairly.

Because if you watch a video posted online, it’s not that clear-cut as it would seem. The bus driver intruded into the other lane because he was trying to avoid two vehicles that had collided in front of him.

In some way we cannot say the bus driver was at fault for what happened. He had no choice but to swerve into the opposite lane because a moving bus cannot stop on a dime. It was already beyond his control that he ran into the policeman’s motorcycle.

But nevertheless, because it is our law, he will be held responsible for the death of the policeman. The terminology being “reckless imprudence resulting in homicide” even though he may not have been reckless at all, but chose the best course of action available to him at the time.

Which leads us to ask, and not for the first time, what is the development regarding House Bill 10196?

Here’s a reminder, and it’s not our first time to mention this: In March of 2024, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores filed HB 10196 to “clarify the presumptions that are applicable in road safety incidents or vehicular mishaps to protect law-abiding persons from misapplied presumptions.” He wants the rules on “reckless imprudence” reviewed.

In some road accidents some deaths are really the result of reckless imprudence, but not all of them. Some deaths happened not because some drivers were reckless but because they were powerless to stop a natural although unfortunate cascade of events. Call it being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Is this incident another test case for House Bill 10196?