And I thought I knew a lot

Since long before, I have been a firm believer of old adages like, “You learn new things everyday” or “Life is an unending learning process” and the like. But being presently engrossed in the road safety advocacy project of Socio Com (Social Communications) Foundation for Asia in tandem with Sunshine Television of giving free road safety seminars to students, I don’t only firmly believe in these maxims, I enjoin others to espouse it.

To elucidate this let me go back some years back when our organization, the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ), which is composed of motoring editors and motoring broadcast journalists (TV producers and hosts) decided to actively promote our advocacy of road safety education specifically for the youth by conducting seminars for teachers on how to effectively teach road safety to their students.

We decided to concentrate on the youth because, first, there were already undertakings being made to educate the present drivers, second, there were no known efforts at that time that focused on the young people to learn about road safety. We felt that our best contribution to the advocacy of promoting road safety was to mold the young minds of the youth to make them not only conscious about being safe while on the road but also to instill road discipline early in their age.

Being a group composed of journalists without any professional educators among our ranks we deemed it right and necessary to consult with the experts on how we can professionally go about reaching our goal before we embarked on our venture. This decision led us to the University of the Philippines National Center for Transportation Studies (UPNCTS), a creation of then President Ferdinand Marcos during his administration to react to the increasing number of motor vehicles in the metro and the country and to address the traffic and safety concerns that usually go with such rapid growth and expansion.

With the help of the NCTS we created Teaching Modules (Lesson Plans, if you may) for elementary students distinct for those in the high school levels. The putting together of these modules was very critical that we also had to consult with education psychologists to be assured of the right language and visuals to be used on which age level of students. Of course the Teaching Modules cost us a fortune, which SPMJ members could not have afforded on our own if not for the generous support that the local automobile manufacturers, importers and distributors graciously extended to us through several fund-raising golf tournaments, which the industry executives eagerly participated in.

The Teaching Modules having been made by transportation experts and professional educators, I found no need to scrutinize them (a big mistake but to tell you why now would be going ahead of the story) and just relied on the unquestioned expertise and vast experience of Mr. Quito da Rosa, who was then SPMJ’s executive director. Having been a former top executive of Philip Morris, which also did school seminars, SPMJ left it all to Quito to conduct the seminars to the teachers on how to teach road safety to their students – and we could not have made a better decision considering the marked and recognized success of the seminars.

Due to the lack of funding SPMJ had to temporarily put the seminars on hold until we get hold of sponsors to help us with the tremendous logistics needed to do the round of schools, pay honoraria to speakers, print modules, provide F&B, etc.

During this lull, my daughter Kristine (DJ Suzy to all listeners of Magic 89.9, the country’s top FM Pop Music Station) expressed her desire to be involved in the advocacy to promote road safety among her peers. I knew some day this would manifest considering that she grew up in an environment of road safety, traffic management and motor sports as staple topics in the house with her father producing and hosting the TV show Motoring Today ever since she was a new born.

Of course I obliged by first producing a new segment on the TV show (Young Street Smarts Club) that she hosts every week. And the spin-off is the Young Street Smarts Club Road Safety School Tour, a series of free road safety seminars that we conduct directly to students from a mixed line-up of private and public schools.

Working very closely with road safety consultant, Mr. Arnel Doria, who’s backed by his years of managing the Honda Safety Driving Center (HSDC), Aries Pacson, a Certified LTO Instructor provided by Ropali Corporation, the one-stop motorcycle shop, Ms. Jenny Bleza, STV Production Manager, my daughter and I have been doing the rounds of schools starting with the Lourdes School of Mandaluyong, Rizal High School in Pasig, Sitero Francisco Memorial School in Valenzuela City and at the Makati Hope Christian School in Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati City.

Part of this whole exercise is to consistently fine tune the seminar/workshop module to tailor-fit the student audience in helping them become safe and responsible road users by making them learn about the different traffic signs and road markings, the basic right-of-way guidelines, the basic rules on road courtesy, pedestrian / commuter safety and basic safe bike riding.

And in constantly doing this I learned that I actually know a lot less of what I thought I knew about all the above-mentioned topics – “indeed life is an unending learning experience and we can really learn new things every day.” I found out what I missed with the big mistake of not bothering to scrutinize the Teaching Modules which was made by NCTS.

And realizing this makes me more convinced about the vital importance of these seminars. We need concerted, organized and dedicated efforts to educate the present and future drivers of the country. If you want to prove this yourself, try lining up 10 public utility drivers and show them different traffic signs and road markings and ghastly see for yourself how many would be able to identify any of them. If I, who have been directly exposed to road safety issues and concerns through my TV show for more than 2 decades, still need a lot to learn about traffic signs and road markings, about right-of-way and other important aspects of road safety, what more those who have not? What more those who got their driver’s license through LTO fixers (a fixture for decades in that government agency) and without ever going through some formal lectures about traffic rules and regulations and worse formal lessons about driving per se? No wonder we have near chaos in the streets. No wonder we have accidents, which cause life and limb that could have been avoided if the driver were better informed and better disciplined. No wonder this is the state of motoring in the Philippines – sadly in need of driver education.

Presently this advocacy of Socio Com Foundation for Asia and Sunshine TV to promote road safety to students by molding their young minds to become safe and responsible road users through these free seminars/workshops have Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) and Ropali Corporation to thank for their support.

Road safety is everybody’s concern. Everyone who goes out of the house and uses the road is a stakeholder in this universal involvement. Let’s all do our share in promoting road safety. Let’s all help keep our children safe while on the road, and us too.

Happy Motoring!!!

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