Introduction = It is noted that the efforts and intent of the government to help reduce accidents, crime and promote safer roads must applauded however, The design and implementation is somewhat immature. The need to do drastic changes may be warranted, but it must still comply to the provisions of the law to protect those who are affected by the problems and are responsible road users. This topic will discuss the issues surrounding riders and what is being forced on their shoulders for what has become, a regulation frenzy by the different LGU's and the MMDA. What is concerning is that certain provisions of the law are being ignored and worse, violated in the acts being pushed into effect.
What is safe for a motorcycle = Being able to maneuver safely to avoid obstacles, objects and road conditions when and where necessary in a manner that does not affect other vehicles.
Can a motorcycle sharing the road be safe = As long as each vehicle acknowledges the presence of the other, they can use the road in harmony. However, without discipline, the results can vary from risky to chaotic.
Is exclusive MC lanes safe = Only when the speed limits are observed and enforced while the riders are giving each other enough space to maneuver out of danger when it arises
Is non exclusive lanes safe = It is possible if all vehicles follow all the rules and strict enforcement is dealt amongst all road users then road sharing can exist and motorcycles can stay in their lane while sharing it with other vehicles.
What is the problem = Motorcyclists are not the only undisciplined road users out there. The private and most especially the public utility drivers are the same. If equal enforcement is instilled amongst all road users then discipline will carry through all the drivers and riders. Focusing discipline on just the riders will not solve the problem entirely. Instead, while you are creating a disciplined environment for riders, ignoring the drivers puts the riders in harms way. While motorcyclists conform to the rules and the restrictions, having undisciplined drivers that have full access to the blue lanes makes the riders moving targets. Moreover, the proliferation of more uneducated and reckless riders and drivers will continue to grow if the indiscriminate issuance of licenses do not change. So disciplining the riders and drivers will be a very slow process as the numbers continue to grow.
Root Cause Analysis = Allowing riders and drivers to go out on the streets without proper education and screening is like teaching your dog to drive. You will eventually lead him into a higher possibility of getting into an accident. The licensing agency must apply strict and comprehensive testing to all applicants to filter those who are not qualified to be on the road. This will allow the enforcement agency to a more effective enforcement of the rules for traffic and proper road usage as you keep the ratio of road users and enforcers compatible or not over bandwidth.
Supplementary = We have to acknowledge that there are literally thousands if not millions of riders that have no discipline, no respect and no consideration for other vehicles. And that is why the people, especially the non riders are against us and wont see reason or the justification for equality. That is the sad truth. However, it is the sworn duty of the government to be fair, equal and non partisan over any group or individual. But the immense swelling of the road users population has gone out of proportion to what the enforcement can handle. The question is, how do we solve this?
Conclusion = The existing laws must be strictly enforced amongst all road users and the licensing must undergo drastic changes. Only then can a long term solution be reached. There is no other way to prevent the growth of the road users and the corresponding accidents and crimes that happen while using a vehicle. Although the implementation of the, MC lane, mandatory vests or banning of back rides do partial work, it instills segregation, profiling, the passing of the burden of incompetency and discrimination because all other vehicles are now given less attention. The law must apply to all or non at all... And the ends does not justify the means.
Wake up my fellow riders... In order for us to gain the favor of the government, we must help ourselves instill discipline amongst our brethren... Lets do this starting with ourselves.
Then going out to fight for our rights will mean more to us and more effective to our cause...
Thank you!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
A message... To the people who call themselves the legitimate riders...
The ends does not justify the means....
Oo, bumaba ang namatay sa commonwealth... Bumababa din ang dami ng dumadaan dito, bumaba din ang speed limit... pero, ang mga bus at jeep, bumaba din ba ang mga pag pasok at pag cut sa linya ng motor? Pinapansin ba sila? O motor lang ang inaabangan parati? Fair and equal treatment ang nawala dahil ang focus nasa motor... Ilang aksidente na ang naireport ng kapwa natin motorista pero na media blackout ng powers that be... Bakit? The risk is still there... The only reason the accidents went down is because the riders have moved elsewhere, they are doing what they can in avoiding the buses and jeeps, adapting and taking the risk that our restricted movement in the lane has given us... At what cost? Buti sana kung hinhuhuli din mga labas pasok na PUV sa MC lane... Buti sana kung maayos na pinapatupad ang existing na batas ng pantay pantay sa lahat... Hindi yung halos lahat ng attensyon nakatutok na sa mga nag momotor... Sumunod na ang EDSA, sumunod na ang Marikina, sumunod na ang Manila... Bakit? Dahil akala nila, pwede na lang nilang pag tulakan ang motor at mga gumagamit nito... SACRIFICIAL lambs na lang ba tayo? Again, the ends does not justify the means... Hindi porket alam kong masamang tao ang aking kapit bahay ay pwede ko nang ilagay ang batas sa sarili kong kamay at dispatsahin sya... Safety should coincide with the Law... Not sacrifice the law for safety... Now people think they can just ignore whatever right, equality and fair treatment that we deserve as citizens just to have them do something... The root cause of the problem is still being ignored... Indiscriminate licensing and inadequate enforcement practices... Why settle for a band aid solution that does not fix the problem on a larger scale?
Proper screening in licensing, proper education, and proper enforcement is the key to the issues on the road... The ones being implemented now only puts us in a box, treats us like criminals and impedes equal treatment... You say your a rider... Why don't you think like one? Why are we the ones carrying the burden of the people who are responsible for these problems? They swore to protect and make our lives easier, instead, they are passing all the hardship and prejudice on us, the people... Just because we are riders does not make all of us bad people that they have to whip with their sticks of rank and power... There are those who are good, deserving and has the desire to see things change for the better... What kind of change are we going into?
Safety? What is safe about allowing buses and jeeps to cut across, stop in front, and speed behind the riders put us in? I have not even begun to talk about other cars, taxi's, suv's, vans and what not... Safe? The MC lane is a misconception of safety... The numbers you lean on are because the bikes are forced to follow what is being pushed down their throats... If you have the enforcement push the same effort to regulating all vehicles and apprehend all would be violators, the result would be the same if not even better...
I have seen the truth about safety and how a rider accepts risk and deals with it to make himself safe... This is not one of them... In fact, it is detrimental to his safety... bikes are designed to be able to maneuver away from the risk that comes in front, beside and behind him... If you remove even a part of that capability, you in turn increase risk and sacrifice safety... It is through regulation that you control the way they move... Not by restriction or by boxing them in...
And once more, the statistics are being used to misconstrue the truth... Majority of the fatal accidents are caused not during the day when the bikes are filtering through traffic... They mostly happen at night... We have not even gone through the cause and who's at fault in these accidents... Some of them are bikes being run over, side swiped and slammed into by other vehicles which is not even the riders fault... Some are caused by alcohol, drugs, over speeding, road conditions and road rage... Who is to say that all the accidents are the riders fault? Do you have that data?
Again, 3 months of data is not even close to significant on the actual events that transpire... Look at the images and videos that are being shared all over... Ride the lanes during the daytime... Look and see how other vehicles bully bikes in their lanes because they know they cant move out of it... Experience how you continuously lookout and be on the defensive while the other vehicles are being ignored by enforcement... In fact, look at where the enforcement is during your rides on the lanes... Do not ride as a group... Ride alone... Ride like everybody else... Experience, see and feel what it is like... The pictures and videos already show more than enough, but hey, why not see for yourself... I ride these roads regularly... I check and visit the activity of MMDA which is almost non existent a lot of times against the other road users who clearly and deliberately ignore and break the traffic laws while the riders follow what they are forced to follow...
You may think you know, but you don't... Denial is the first defense mechanism against truth... Your statistics still does not justify the means no matter what... And the burden of proof is still out there... Waiting to show it's ugly face... Do we need to wait for somebody to die? And speaking of death, that one person recorded, did he die while being in the lane? How about the covered and unreported accidents that was shared on the internet? Did you know that most of them happened while the riders were in the lane while the rest is when they were trying to get into or out of the lane because of the 100 meter rule?
Because of the trend that started with the MC lane, lawmakers are now using that to apply other laws that segregate, profile, push and discriminate riders and their passengers... Cause and effect... The deadly and sinful fruits of a seed planted by the MC Lane...
Wake up... It's not too late... We must protect our selves from what's taking place in society... Let's not lead the people in power into totalitarian rule... Let's not allow the existing and forgotten rules and regulations be replaced by discriminative ones... The issue is they do not have it within them to enforce what's already there equally amongst all road users...
What will make you see the truth? When will you see the truth? When I say, "I TOLD YOU SO"?
Oo, bumaba ang namatay sa commonwealth... Bumababa din ang dami ng dumadaan dito, bumaba din ang speed limit... pero, ang mga bus at jeep, bumaba din ba ang mga pag pasok at pag cut sa linya ng motor? Pinapansin ba sila? O motor lang ang inaabangan parati? Fair and equal treatment ang nawala dahil ang focus nasa motor... Ilang aksidente na ang naireport ng kapwa natin motorista pero na media blackout ng powers that be... Bakit? The risk is still there... The only reason the accidents went down is because the riders have moved elsewhere, they are doing what they can in avoiding the buses and jeeps, adapting and taking the risk that our restricted movement in the lane has given us... At what cost? Buti sana kung hinhuhuli din mga labas pasok na PUV sa MC lane... Buti sana kung maayos na pinapatupad ang existing na batas ng pantay pantay sa lahat... Hindi yung halos lahat ng attensyon nakatutok na sa mga nag momotor... Sumunod na ang EDSA, sumunod na ang Marikina, sumunod na ang Manila... Bakit? Dahil akala nila, pwede na lang nilang pag tulakan ang motor at mga gumagamit nito... SACRIFICIAL lambs na lang ba tayo? Again, the ends does not justify the means... Hindi porket alam kong masamang tao ang aking kapit bahay ay pwede ko nang ilagay ang batas sa sarili kong kamay at dispatsahin sya... Safety should coincide with the Law... Not sacrifice the law for safety... Now people think they can just ignore whatever right, equality and fair treatment that we deserve as citizens just to have them do something... The root cause of the problem is still being ignored... Indiscriminate licensing and inadequate enforcement practices... Why settle for a band aid solution that does not fix the problem on a larger scale?
Proper screening in licensing, proper education, and proper enforcement is the key to the issues on the road... The ones being implemented now only puts us in a box, treats us like criminals and impedes equal treatment... You say your a rider... Why don't you think like one? Why are we the ones carrying the burden of the people who are responsible for these problems? They swore to protect and make our lives easier, instead, they are passing all the hardship and prejudice on us, the people... Just because we are riders does not make all of us bad people that they have to whip with their sticks of rank and power... There are those who are good, deserving and has the desire to see things change for the better... What kind of change are we going into?
Safety? What is safe about allowing buses and jeeps to cut across, stop in front, and speed behind the riders put us in? I have not even begun to talk about other cars, taxi's, suv's, vans and what not... Safe? The MC lane is a misconception of safety... The numbers you lean on are because the bikes are forced to follow what is being pushed down their throats... If you have the enforcement push the same effort to regulating all vehicles and apprehend all would be violators, the result would be the same if not even better...
I have seen the truth about safety and how a rider accepts risk and deals with it to make himself safe... This is not one of them... In fact, it is detrimental to his safety... bikes are designed to be able to maneuver away from the risk that comes in front, beside and behind him... If you remove even a part of that capability, you in turn increase risk and sacrifice safety... It is through regulation that you control the way they move... Not by restriction or by boxing them in...
And once more, the statistics are being used to misconstrue the truth... Majority of the fatal accidents are caused not during the day when the bikes are filtering through traffic... They mostly happen at night... We have not even gone through the cause and who's at fault in these accidents... Some of them are bikes being run over, side swiped and slammed into by other vehicles which is not even the riders fault... Some are caused by alcohol, drugs, over speeding, road conditions and road rage... Who is to say that all the accidents are the riders fault? Do you have that data?
Again, 3 months of data is not even close to significant on the actual events that transpire... Look at the images and videos that are being shared all over... Ride the lanes during the daytime... Look and see how other vehicles bully bikes in their lanes because they know they cant move out of it... Experience how you continuously lookout and be on the defensive while the other vehicles are being ignored by enforcement... In fact, look at where the enforcement is during your rides on the lanes... Do not ride as a group... Ride alone... Ride like everybody else... Experience, see and feel what it is like... The pictures and videos already show more than enough, but hey, why not see for yourself... I ride these roads regularly... I check and visit the activity of MMDA which is almost non existent a lot of times against the other road users who clearly and deliberately ignore and break the traffic laws while the riders follow what they are forced to follow...
You may think you know, but you don't... Denial is the first defense mechanism against truth... Your statistics still does not justify the means no matter what... And the burden of proof is still out there... Waiting to show it's ugly face... Do we need to wait for somebody to die? And speaking of death, that one person recorded, did he die while being in the lane? How about the covered and unreported accidents that was shared on the internet? Did you know that most of them happened while the riders were in the lane while the rest is when they were trying to get into or out of the lane because of the 100 meter rule?
Because of the trend that started with the MC lane, lawmakers are now using that to apply other laws that segregate, profile, push and discriminate riders and their passengers... Cause and effect... The deadly and sinful fruits of a seed planted by the MC Lane...
Wake up... It's not too late... We must protect our selves from what's taking place in society... Let's not lead the people in power into totalitarian rule... Let's not allow the existing and forgotten rules and regulations be replaced by discriminative ones... The issue is they do not have it within them to enforce what's already there equally amongst all road users...
What will make you see the truth? When will you see the truth? When I say, "I TOLD YOU SO"?