Wanted: A total overhaul of land transport

Wow! Just 20 days after the famous road disaster that killed and injured 50 Iranian medical students at Bo. Cansumory in the Transcentral Highway, another bus accident has happened in Toledo City. A passenger bus lost its brakes along a blind curve in Lutopan, just a few kilometers from the site of that cargo truck accident that happened a couple of days after the Transcentral Highway accident that flattened two parked multicabs, killed four people and injured eight bystanders.

This latest bus accident involved a Corominas Bus with plate number GVG-145 that killed 15 passengers. Cebu has now seen four major bus accidents in just a month with a total of 71 fatalities and scores injured. This only proves that despite the headline hugging news of these bus accidents, nothing has been done to prevent more accidents from happening.

We can blame the bus owners (or their drivers) for the poor maintenance of their public buses that could have caused the accidents. But the Land Transportation Office (LTO) cannot be blameless for these accidents because they have not checked all the buses that ply here in Cebu for any faulty brakes or poor maintenance. How many more bus accidents should happen before the LTO cracks down on bus companies?

Again, it is time to change the rules of the game when it comes to Land Transportation business. The regulators like the LTO and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) more often than not favor the bus companies over the safety of its passengers. Sure, LTO-7 Assistant Regional Director Edgar Catarongan have already suspended all the buses of Corominas Bros. because of this accident. But how many times have we said that this move is akin to closing the barn door after the horses have been stolen!

If the LTO had foresight, they should have checked all the Corominas buses earlier then perhaps this accident wouldn’t have happened. The police have arrested the drivers involved in these bus accidents but arresting them after the accident hasn’t scared other bus drivers who continue to drive recklessly. If anyone knows the condition of their buses, it is the drivers. Hence, they too must insist upon the bus owners to have the buses they drive be repaired or at least go on a periodic check.

A long time ago, my brother Bing and I rode a Greyhound bus from New York City down to Washington, DC and back to New York. On our return to New York, we made an unscheduled stop in Philadelphia for a bus change. Since I sat right behind the driver, I asked him what was wrong with the bus. The driver remarked, “Number four speed of the wiper is busted!” It was then that I realized that Greyhound buses had four speed wipers, while back in 1972, we’d be lucky if the wipers in our buses would even work!

This story should give you an idea that safety in American roads is paramount! Here, safety takes a back seat to profit. This is why buses are allowed to leave only when they are overloaded. Then when drivers drive their buses beyond the speed limit, there are no police patrol cars or motorcycles that would apprehend them. I have so many times before reported many overspeeding buses either to CITOM or Trafcon, but we don’t even get a follow up on our report.

I suggest that under the Aquino administration, there should be a total overhaul of the Land Transportation Industry and all its regulators, especially the enforcement agencies. It’s about time that the Philippine National Police (PNP) get serious in patrolling our highways that all of a sudden has become too dangerous for motorists. Today we live in a high-technology world; we should use technology to stop erring drivers. One thing we can do is go high-tech by putting on radar guns to check speeding vehicles. This is what they use in Western countries today.

The PNP can also put television cameras to patrol certain sections of the national highway. In fact, they don’t even have to put a permanent place for their video camera. They can move this from place to place so that the bus drivers wouldn’t have any idea when and where they are being watched.

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Talking about high-tech gadgets, I finally saw an iPad owned by a friend. But I found it a bit bulky compared to my miniscule iTouch. I guess it takes some kind of getting used to. I got an email from our friends in Globe Telecom that the perfect match for the iPad 3G is now available in Globe outlets. This is the first-ever Micro-SIM card available in Globe Tattoo that is designed especially for the iPad and priced at only P999/month. Also, Globe Telecom has introduced new colors for the BlackBerry Curve 8520, which now comes in ultra-chic hues. As Globe’s Chief Marketing Officer Menchi Orlina said, “The BlackBerry Curve 8520 gives you everything you need to express yourself, all in a stylish and affordable package.”