Those erring bus drivers

Buses have been part of our landscape for so long, these have been used as backdrop or even as setting in some movies and on television.

In Ang Konduktora, a young Vilma Santos was put in a bus in a great part of the movie since she plays a feisty conductress there. And in that very exploitative film Isang Gabi sa Buhay ng Isang Babae (with Welsh beauty Helen Morgan in the lead), the story takes place overnight (but with a lot of flashbacks though) inside a province-bound bus.

Even in the currently showing Bikini Open, a passenger bus plays a very crucial part in the film’s very hilarious ending.

Unfortunately – in real life – I’m not entertained by the antics of these buses and their drivers. When I encounter a bus on the road, what I see is the word ARROGANCE spelled out on all sides.

Last week, in that tragic road accident in Tuba in Benguet, watching the news and seeing those dead bodies covered by colorful sheets sent shivers down my spine. The place, of course, is familiar. I’ve taken that same road many, many times since that is only 10 minutes away from my Baguio home (now a Korean school). It’s really quite refreshing and even fun to drive there – what with the magnificent mountain-view. The road is actually wide enough – definitely a lot safer than Kennon Road on the other side. But you have to be careful, especially when dealing with those passenger buses – whether these are in front of you, behind you or in the opposite lane. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been harassed in my tiny vehicle along Marcos Highway (actually even in the North Diversion Road) by those arrogant drivers in their huge buses bound for Baguio.

And here in EDSA, it’s a daily curse to be driving alongside those buses that can’t keep to their lanes. Every day, I keep asking myself why those buses have to be there and why we have to travel the same road. Those buses don’t obey traffic rules, drop off and pick up passengers wherever and whenever — unmindful of the fact that there are also other vehicles behind them. And yet, to this day, I cannot for the life of me understand why Claire de la Fuente thinks she and her buses are the most oppressed this side of the universe.

Yes, we’ve spoiled them. No, it is actually the government that spoils them – coddles them. The MMDA has given them a yellow lane, but they only use this whenever it was convenient for them.

Why, Bayani Fernando even put up those pink fences for them – supposedly to keep them in place (they didn’t and still don’t). Never mind if it inconvenienced a lot of other motorists because by trying to discipline bus drivers, MMDA – in the process – is also punishing drivers of private vehicles that get trapped unnecessarily inside those pesky pink fences. And now, try to take note of this while you are in EDSA: Traffic is usually heavy in areas where there are pink fences.

This I always say: There is traffic where there is a concentration of buses – loading or disgorging passengers, usually away from designated bus stops.

And then, there is also the issue of buses as smoke-belchers.

In 2002, I was fooled by the LTO into believing that I cannot register my car unless it passes the smoke-emission test. I had a Daewoo that time that had a problem with the muffler. I’ve sent the vehicle from motor shop to motor shop, but the problem was still there and I was so sure it would flunk the LTO test that I decided to sell it at a bargain price to be chopped up – yes, as in chop-chop. Now, I am left with one car and I try to avoid appointments when it’s color-coding day for me. Sure, you can always say that at least I still have one car, while the majority has to engage in track-and-field in EDSA every day. But you have to understand my line of work – a car is extremely necessary and I find it so unfair that I had to sell my only other vehicle because I followed the LTO ruling. And yet you see every (I’m not even saying every other, but EVERY) passenger bus polluting our major thoroughfares with thick black smoke and happily get away with it.

I know this is an anti-public utility vehicle article and may not be popular among the masses. (Hey, I too had a phase in my life – a part of my college years – when I had to take the bus and this makes me familiar with the ills of our public bus system.) But it’s high time bus drivers are made to toe the line because some (and I say some – although I’m really inclined to say most) are really rude, abusive and inconsiderate. (Only last Monday, I was witness to two buses engaged in a race on top of the GMA 7 flyover – completely disregarding the safety of their passengers and the other vehicles around them.) To bus company owners, please teach your drivers basic manners and courtesy.

At this point, my only wish is for any of our public affairs programs on TV to tackle the issue regarding erring bus drivers and their complete disregard for traffic safety and rules – and why government continues to treat them with kids’ gloves. I know this piece – strictly speaking – has no place in an entertainment section. But this is one way of reaching the people running our public affairs programs and I can only hope that with their help we’d find a solution to this major problem we encounter on the road every day.