What’s the point?

I watched the video of a motorcycle that swerved and fell to avoid being caught by a traffic enforcer for passing the EDSA busway on ABS-CBN's news website. But if you watch until the end of the video, you'll see that the fallen rider managed to keep his motorcycle running and avoid being caught. I hope the video caught the license plate of his bike and the authorities find out who it is and punish him according to the law. Aside from the traffic violation, he managed to escape. The punishment for that should be severe.

But that seems to be the trend in Metro Manila today. Motorcycle riders get away with so many traffic violations. If that were a car and tried to flee, it would have been caught. Why was the rider even given a chance to bring his bike upright and ride it? The enforcer should have gone for the key. It is evident from the video that there was an opportunity to do that. The enforcer could have pushed the rider on his side to make him fall. The enforcer is then seen seeming to just laugh at the whole incident.

This is the reason why most riders are not afraid of getting caught. In Alabang, I witnessed numerous motorcycle riders ignoring a very clear sign that said, "No right turn on red signal." Only cars were following the sign. So, what are traffic laws for? Do they apply to everyone except motorcycle riders? But to be fair, many cars and trucks still don't know the meaning of the yellow box painted on the road. The yellow box should be free of vehicles so that other vehicles can pass from other directions. There are yellow boxes in front of fire stations, but they are often not followed. When firefighters have to respond to a fire and their way out is blocked because of ignorance of the yellow box, what now?

It's practically anarchy on the roads nowadays, with no traffic enforcers or police in sight. Sometimes, I'll see a police car parked on a corner, but I don’t see anyone helping to direct traffic. Why are they just parked? All traffic laws become futile because there is no one to enforce or apprehend violators. As the video showed, the rider is even emboldened to just run away from the hands of an enforcer. What’s the point?