Another suggestion to solve traffic woes
Few days ago, I wrote on the possibility of limiting the number of cars a family can own and use as a drastic measure to helping solve our horrendous traffic woes. Actually, it was one idea among a few in my mind. Realistically speaking, that measure is a long shot principally because I do not foresee any of our legislators upbeat on any measure that can meet the criticism of our society's elite. It will be understandable for the wealthy to fight any attempt to put limits to their privileges although, if only given a chance, I am prepared to debate with anybody who takes a position opposite to it.
The idea of limiting the number of car ownership per family affects only future acquisitions. Even the exercise of police power may not be available to trim the number of cars presently owned by individuals. We cannot just deprive car owners of their possessions thru a law without that statute being constitutionally tainted as confiscatory and oppressive.
Having said that, let me go to my next suggestion. There is a corollary need for a piece of legislation that will attempt to force citizens who have more than 4 cars to unload their old units in excess of whatever may be prescribed as a limit. When I mention old cars, I mean those private vehicles that are, say, ten years old. Many of these vehicles, to be sure, are still in great shape and road worthy, but if they are allowed to continue running our streets, our objective of clearing the road for easier traffic will be blunted.
How do we achieve this end of goading these concerned citizens to unload their extra vehicles? We can make the registration fees of old cars burdensome. For example, government imposes an annual renewal of registration at an amount double than its present fee if a car is ten years old. So, the registration of this vehicle if currently renewed at four thousand pesos, can only be done if the fee is, say, eight thousand pesos. And if the owner still likes to renew the registration of his vehicle upon its reaching the 15 year age, the fee may increase to twelve thousand pesos. Oh, there should be reasonable mechanics to implement such an idea.
The whole point is that keeping an old car in excess of the limit is going to be so costly that the owner is more encouraged to dispose of them than to keep the same.
My other suggestion is going to hurt current and prospective owners of vehicles that are called surplus. Multicabs constitute the great bulk of this kind of transportation units. There must be a law to disallow the future registration of these vehicles. We must consider that foreign laws consider these units to be not road worthy. There apparently is an age limit set by other states to vehicles at five years. I gather that beyond the age limit, these vehicles are no longer economically viable. Not only is the cost of maintenance high, the environment factor is heavily unfriendly.
True to the acumen of our enterprising businessmen, they buy them cheap by the bulk and make a windfall selling these multicabs to local buyers. When that happens, these vehicles are registered in our land and add to the worsening of our traffic woes. One can just imagine the beneficial effect if we remove these units from our streets.
But what do we do to the “present owners of multicabs?” It will be oppressive if any law just disallows these owners from registering their vehicles immediately. Perhaps, a balancing of interests between the private owners and the general welfare can be approximated if the current owners are allowed a time frame within which to use their vehicles. Perhaps, an extension three more years can be acceptable so that beyond that extension period, no more further registration may be allowed.
These suggestions are but basic concepts being products of an ordinary mind. They are raw and can be improved. My point is if our lawmakers can just start trying to solve the present traffic problems we daily endure, ideas are abundant. Only political will is wanting.
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