Two-wheeled terrors

There has, of late, been a noticable increase in the number of motorcycles on the roads of Metro Manila. Maybe the constantly increasing–now, thankfully, decreasing–price of gasoline makes driving a car an increasingly prohibitive proposition, or the cost and inconvenience of taking public transport–waiting by the roadside for hours in the pouring rain or inhaling the fumes of myriad buses and jeepneys is definitely not an enriching experience–makes two wheels and a lot of daring the most viable means of getting around the metropolis. Among my colleagues here in the office, I was surprised to learn that some bike to and from as far away as Novaliches and Antipolo.

Many of the two-wheeled conveyances on the road today are really just scooters, which I am told can be bought for as low as P20,000. Although bike riders are required to wear helmets, the strength, material and design specifications are not stipulated, so one can easily buy a tin helmet that looks strangely like a cooking pot from street vendors for a few hundred pesos.

Very often these little scooters/bikes have more than one rider; I have seen one with a whole family of five–at least I assumed they were a family consisting of father, mother and three children–balancing precariously on the little bike, and only the father had a helmet on. Three adults on one bike is a common thing; I suppose that takes off from the "sabit" practise in jeepneys. Again, usually it is only the driver that has a helmet.

I bring all of this up because, as a "self-driven" motorist on Metro Manila’s streets, I am increasingly disconcerted by the reckless behavior of kaskasero motorcycle/scooter drivers who weave in and out of traffic, change lanes with impunity, who drive as if they were exempt from all rules and even from basic road courtesy. At intersections they will force their way to the front, ignoring pedestrian lanes and yellow boxes. When traffic is heavy and cars are at a standstill, they will try to squeeze their way in between cars, even when there is but a millimeter between you. They turn right or left from whichever lane they happen to be in, with hardly a visible signal light or sign. Their attitude seems to be that it is the vehicle driver’s responsibility to look out for them.

Along with disciplining bus and jeepney drivers, maybe the MMDA chair should start thinking about disciplining these two-wheeled kings of the road as well.