Toyota out to make RP roads a safer place

David Go realizes he may be chasing an elusive dream, but he’s not one to yield as easily as any two-bit scooter interloping on a speedway. His dream: To turn every Filipino motorist and pedestrian into responsible, traffic law-abiding zealots.

As anybody who has been cut off while signaling to change lane knows, yellow, in the Philippines, doesn’t mean slow down; it means put the pedal to the metal.

This cavalier disregard for traffic rules has led to one driver being arrested every minute in Metro Manila alone.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported that from June 30 to July 5 this year, its enforcers issued traffic violation receipts to 8,716 drivers, mostly along EDSA, the capital region’s main thoroughfare.

Paragons of good behavior

The numbers, however, aren’t discouraging Go, president of Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation Inc, said. He believes that while you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, it is never too late to turn pups into paragons of good behavior.

"The whole idea is to target the next generation. They are easier to teach," Go explained over lunch at Toyota’s sprawling Philippine head office in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Since last year, Toyota has been on a mission to pursue a cause that is very close to its heart: Road safety.

The world’s second-largest automaker, through its foundation here, has been teaming up with motoring journalists, members of the academe and the government to organize seminars and conferences on promoting road safety in the Philippines.

One of things that have come out of these seminars and conferences are the U-turn slots perforating islands separating the C5 highway.

Not just U-turn slots

Go and company, however, have more than just U-turn slots or better road signs in mind. They want a tectonic shift in the way people think about driving, crossing the street and enforcing traffic laws, and the key, they firmly believe, is education.

"Many people know how to drive, but they don’t know the rules. They know only how to get from point A to point B and they try to get there by all means at whatever cost. That’s why we’re going back to basic," said Go.

In its crusade to make every road a safer, relaxing place, Toyota is teaming up with groups like the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists and the Automobile Association of the Philippines.

SPMJ has developed a module on road traffic that it uses in seminars it conducts for teachers and high school students.

The AAP, meanwhile, is organizing conferences that are bringing together members of the academe and the government to formulate solutions to the country’s traffic problems.

Experimental plan

One of the solutions to come out of these conferences is an experimental traffic scheme being implemented inside the University of the Philippines’ Diliman campus.

The scheme uproots the traffic system being implemented inside the Subic Bay special economic zone and transplants it inside a campus whose roads are populated by adrenaline-pumped students, daredevil jeepney and tricycle drivers, and pesky pedestrians.

Why Subic?

Go’s reply: "We realized that a Filipino driver, when he goes to Subic, he follows all rules. So, why not in Metro Manila or Cebu or Davao? There must be something in Subic, and that something is what we want to replicate."

"With these tie-ups, we are catching the lives of motorists, pedestrians and, indirectly, through the government agencies and enforcement aspects in which we have no control over," Go said. 

"But we hope that there will be synergy, so that in the long run, it will make the world better for us and everybody else. That ‘s our goal, " he added.