Just another wall of text...

Hey! What? Weh! Hahahahahahahahaha!

Whats new? We have seen countless laws being passed in spite it being raw and prone to loopholes that may lead to corruption in so many different aspects...

This year, don't vote for those who pick on motorcycle riders...

Still, we have yet to see a law that has gone into implementation and stayed...

On Senate Bill No. 3365...
 
Although this law helps the proliferation of deaths caused by alcohol, especially in the community (motorcycles) that I belong to, this helps us lessen the deaths caused when alcohol and reckless riding is mixed...

My view still stands, stricter licensing, and stricter enforcement of the EXISTING laws must be pushed in order to correct the attitude of all road users in general... All the problems, issues, and lack of discipline on the streets is mainly due to where it all starts... Our group's RCA (Root Cause Analysis) points to where you take your first step as a road user (well as a pedestrian, you already become one) with a vehicle as deadly as the person who drives/rides it... Let me simplify:

1. Drivers ED - This is not in our curriculum... Whether you are destined to drive a car, ride a motorcycle or be a commuter for the rest of your life, Drivers ED teaches you the basics of using the road, the rules and regulations that guide us, discipline and courtesy... If we start out having this in our hearts and minds, the issue wouldn't blow out of proportion...

2. Stricter Licensing - Applying for a license is like applying for a postal ID... There are almost no denials when there should be more exceptions... Fact: There are LTO licensing centers that do not conduct seminars when applying for a license for the first time... Fact: There are LTO application forms and test sheets with the answers already provided... Fact: Practical driving tests are no longer done except in LTO East Avenue as far as I can see... And sometimes, when the instructors are too busy or is preoccupied, you get to pass without actually showing them that you can drive... Fact: A blind man once applied for a license as an experiment... Don't take my word for it as it was featured in a show... Fact: You can hardly tell the difference between a real license or a fake one which is readily available within 30 mins and Php350...

3. Stricter Enforcement of the EXISTING LAWS - We live in a country of monkey see, monkey do... If others can counter flow, so can I... This is because we get away with it even if we don't try... Enforcement is too busy texting, selecting an easy apprehension, wondering if they are doing it right, and breaking the laws themselves for all of us to witness... Not to mention the lack of training given to our enforcers, the mixed rules and regulations that differ from one town to the other and to put it as plain as possible, the stupid ones that act as if they know what they are doing...
Call me weird, but I do go out in hunt of enforcement to apprehend me... This is my way of doing a progress report on the level of competence and the amount of corruption there is on the streets... And sometimes, I just do it to prove a point... The days of "ignorance of the laws, excuses no one" has long been replaced with, "Hello officer, meet my uncle, Ninoy"...

These three, if done properly and is adhered to like we brush our teeth everyday, would bring fourth change that is unheard of in the history of driving/riding in this country...

There is actually no need for new laws to come out if LTO followed RA 4136 by the letter... As majority of the violations made are found in this document... From the basic required components of you vehicle, speed limits, reckless driving/riding, right of way, and yes, even drunk driving/riding among others...

ARTICLE V
Miscellaneous Traffic Rules

Section 53. Driving while under the influence of liquor or narcotic drug. - No person shall drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor or narcotic drug.

You see, there are things that are as simple as night and day yet, somebody manages to make things a lot more complicated when the solution is just based on three aspects of road usage...

For us motorcycle users, this trend is so rampant, were almost compelled to expect a law that will ban us from riding on the streets in the next few legislation to come...

• Installation of plate numbers on our helmets for easier identification...
• No backride policy to do away with riding in tandem criminals...
• Remove your helmet while in the vicinity of what not...
• Color coded helmets for easier identification...
• Mandatory vests with your plate number written at the back again, for identification purposes...
• Selective apprehension of loud after market mufflers with out a standard and a means to objectively measure the sound level of your motorcycle while noisy buses, jeeps and other vehicles seem to be unaffected by this legislation...
• Import Commodity Clearance sticker requirement on all motorcycle helmets as the basis of apprehension on the streets...
• Requiring all motorcycle users to avail of a sticker that matches your license and your motorcycle making the OR/CR and our very own license useless...
• Anti modification law that is so raw, upgrading your spoke rims to mag wheels can get you apprehended...
• Requirement of all riders to wear gloves so you cant use a gun... SWAT, SF, MILITARY and other ARMED FORCES wear gloves right? Heck, I wear gloves when I play paintball or airsoft war games...
• All riders caught on EDSA, Commonwealth and Macapagal Avenue violating the Motorcycle Lane are given a 15 minute seminar that earns you a sticker saying "I am a responsible rider"...
• Plates on the front and both sides of the motorcycle for, yes you guessed it, easier identification...
• Checkpoints that concentrate on motorcycles only while a bunch of men with high powered firearms breezes through the checkpoint...
• Coding for vehicles that actually help decrease congestion because of it's smaller size...
• Laws preventing us from using our purchased vehicle on the street because it takes so long for LTO to release (current average is 2 1/2 months) our plate numbers...
• Laws discriminating smaller displacement motorcycle users from using a road that is actually a lot safer than C5 or EDSA...
• Requiring all riders of all ages, sizes, and medical conditions to wear only thick pants, jackets, shoes and gloves...
• Banning of full face helmets in some areas...
• Banning of open face helmets in other areas...
• Laws written in such a way that we are already profiled as criminals just because we use motorcycles...
• Laws that only affect one vehicle class while others are exempted...
• Laws that actually give would be criminals the means to become invisible or laws that help them rather than deter them...
• And my current favorite, limiting our use of the road by placing us in a lane that everybody else can use, while we cant share other lanes unless we need to overtake somebody... That also puts us in harms way as nobody can stop the buses and jeeps from cutting across our lane which we don't even enjoy right of way on... Lanes that removes the best safety feature of a motorcycle: It's ability to maneuver out of harms way...

So far, the other road users don't have this much on their plates... But they do have their share of close calls, side mirror taps and paint scratches from relentless riders who force they way into the tightest of spots to get ahead of everybody else... Yes, we have more uneducated, irresponsible, and STUPID riders than any other vehicle class... Because we have the highest number of vehicle registration as of today... Outnumbering cars, vans, puv's, tricycles, bicycles, trucks, buses, suv's among others... And that is because of our ability to get a license and a motorcycle with less than 6,000 pesos in our hands and within a day without considering the dangers, risks, corruption, segregation of our class, discrimination from other road users and legislators, lack of applied skill in operating a motor vehicle and last, but not the least, understanding of the traffic laws and regulations that guide us...

Riding a motorcycle... It's more FUNDS in the Philippines... - Edwin Go