Last night, over dinner of curried chicken, Mom told me that a 70+ year old distant relative of ours was almost run over by a passenger jeep the other day, as he was crossing the street near our place. The details on how it happened were sketchy at best but luckily for him, there were no serious injuries and the X-ray results showed no visible damage to his hip bone, and was promptly sent home that very same day.
He’s now recuperating at home, although he still complains of pain from time to time. Much to the dismay of his wife and son who thinks he’s being such a big baby.
Statistically, more than half of those involved in road accidents, both minor and major, almost always involve public utility vehicles. No, buses and jeeps by themselves aren’t the cause of the accidents, it’s those freaks behind the wheel that do.
Incidents like this is quite common in this decaying urban jungle that is Manila, especially where those ubiquitous jeeps ply their routes. Anyone who drives, or has driven in Manila before at some point in their life, have their own share of ‘horror’ stories or ‘encounters’ with these maniacs on the road. And who among you motorists, or passengers even, of these retards with driver’s license have ever thought of strangling them with your bare hands?
Personally, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve thought of committing murder. And how I’ve often wished imagined that there would be an open season wherein you can hunt down and shoot as many of these road hogs in a day.
Hey, I can always claim insanity, can I?
My most memorable encounter would have to be the one that happened 12 years ago. I wrote about it last year in this blog. Check it out by clicking on this.
As for the old guy, he’s lucky to have come out of that accident in one piece. Although he had to pay for the hospital expense from his own pocket, since that stupid driver claimed he didn’t have any money with him at the time. Typical.
I’ve been thinking hard about the problems with puv drivers. They are road maniacs. But I believe it’s because they compete with each other in the streets. They generally have a brazen disregard for traffic rules simply because if papatay-patay sila (and this is according to them), they won’t get as many passengers as they want. And so, they won’t earn much. It becomes extreme though if the lives of the pedestrians are put into risk because of their behavior. What’s the solution? Stricter traffic enforcement and more visible, dedicated, NON-SPONGING traffic oficers in the streets.
The open season is a really great idea. We will have to be at our best gears to shoot these ‘hogs’…oh wait, that’s glorifying them, ‘vermins’ is a much better suited title. I’m not generalizing of course but what on earth did LTO thinking when they issued drivers license to them. It’s like giving an insane person the luxury of a gun.
Road maniac talaga sila. One time I was almost run over by a passenger jeepney while crossing the road. Good thing was a police officer saw what happened and I think he gave the driver a ticket or something. “I think” lang ha. Baka naman humingi ng lagay ung pulis. Who knows?
He’s lucky he only had minor pain. Kung sa iba yan, baka “hit and run” na ang gawin ng driver na un.
i keep sharing the road with them. we all do. you see them and you imagine evil knievil. what’s sad is they’re chasing a few coins that are likely to pay for the damage if they hurt people along the way.
another factor is that in a country where there’s very little or no law implementation at all, these hooligans reign supreme.
another factor is that this gives them a feeling of having power. in a country where people are not empowered, makaisa lang sila, puwede na. may power na.
don’t you find it funny that most of us have rules at home, we have gmrc at home, but it’s gone the minute we step out of our homes?
hay. ang bigat on a monday. hapi tots! hapi tots!
This is all true. They can’t even follow simple road etiquette. Not in their list of good words. And they don’t care who’s on the road.
Hay nako, its not just the jeepney drivers, theres also the truck drivers, the motorcycle drivers, the tricycle drivers and the bus drivers. Parang sila yung hari ng kalye. Grrr….
Abaniko> One thing about these people is that they don’t give a hoot about their passengers and other motorists. This is road anarchy at its worst. Stricter rule? It’s been done before. And their response? Mount a jeepney strike to protest the ‘harsh’ ordinance. Go figure…
Jef> Honestly, I wish that open season I was imagining was true. Imagine how clean and orderly our streets would be without these vermins.
Kikaygal> Chances are, kinuartahan lang yung driver ng parak.
Atticus> Hooligans, that’s the right description for these people. Remember how during a jeepney strike they would force and even threaten those drivers who wouldn’t join? Empowerment my butt…
Ipanema> The worst thing is, they’ll always try to worm their way out of their responsibility if and when an accident does happen. They’ll blame everyone and everything but their stupid selves.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting, Ipanema. 🙂
Ladybug> I bet you’re also hoping for an ‘open season’ on those maniacs on the road. Sali ako! 😉
Driving in Manila for me is as close to swimming in a pool of sharks. I will not even dare to hold the steering wheel.
What’s worse is when they cause the accident… they lose that “don’t mess with me” look and then put on this “may pamilya ako eh” or “ala ako pambayad” etc etc.
hey… I think Road Rage doesn’t count as temporary insanity… however, us pedestrians should stick together. I’ll testify to your insanity. hah!
Alternati> Great! If I can gather enough people to vouch for my insanity, I might be able to pull off a killing spree on these roadhogs. 😉
Jeepney drivers won’t stop for nobody. That’s just the mind set of Pinoys. The car has priority over pedestrians.
In a country like Canada where cars always stop for people, there are already 25 pedestrian deaths this year in the city of Toronto alone. In the recent study, most accidents happen at night, when drivers fail to see pedestrians because of their dark clothing. In fact one of the victims was a newly arrived Pinay care giver, barely weeks in Canada. Her family’s hopes were suddenly crushed because of the tragedy.
i’ve always fantasized about driving an invincible, monster truck or something and just plowing and crashing through those freaking jeepneys, buses, trucks, taxis, pedicabs, tricycles and everything else that seem to have claimed ownership of our streets and roads.
how’s that for evil thinking…
seems to me that it is the system that should change… if that will happen, it will have a domino effect up to these jeepney drivers.. ang kaso, those that should be enforcing the law and the traffic regulations can be bribed..
BW> Thing is, these drivers learned how to drive from other jeepeney drivers who themselves don’t even know the meaning of road courtesy. And the cycle just keeps going on…
It was a very sad ending for that newly-arrived Pinay caregiver btw. Life can indeed be cruel sometimes….
Vina> You’re showing the ‘evil’ side of you. And that IS scary… 😀
Bing> I believe that a more stringent measure is what’s needed for these erring drivers to toe the line.
As always, our PUV drivers have no discipline at all. They are like racing through the streets when the street itself is so narrow. They keep on swerving here and there without any direction. I’m amazed that most jeepney drivers seems to have 8 tentacles for the fact that, one hand is on the wheel, another is entertaining the fare of the commuters, another is counting the change, feet on the gas pedal, and it seems like it’s never ending!:grin:
Public transport, i think, should be like in other countries wherein it’s just one company (or maybe just government owned) operating it. It’s easier for everyone if the public transport just moves in one lane, stops only at specific stops. Tara na sa China!
JV> Their ‘dexterity’ at the wheel isn’t really something to be admired at. How many accidents and near-accidents have happened because the driver was too busy getting fares and counting change, instead of keeping his eye on the road?
Char> I agree, that would be a better option for our public transport system. This stupid ‘boundary’ system that’s in place between the drivers and owners, is the reason why these drivers drive the way they do.
Sige punta tayo sa China, libre mo ko. Hehehe 😀
In some places they have the rule that says strikes three; OUT.
Well, i could say different about driving here. It’s the opposite. Bus (we only have one bus co., the city owned) drivers wants to run us car drivers for not yielding the right of way to the buses, until they law gave the Bus drivers the power to cite violators. Suddenly we (mostly) turned into well-behaved drivers. The wonder of “fines” and the rise of Insurance premium for even one infraction.Will it work in Phil. setting? Ask the Cops, they’ll answer it for me. Or the Fiscals or..
what do you expect guy?
Vic> Fines are good ONLY if the enforcers themselves aren’t susceptible to bribery. As for the insurance premium, well… we all know that these jeepneys’ insurance coverage are highly suspect.
Kikaygal> Err… a miracle? LOL! 😀
hay nako, it’s not just the jeepney drivers. generally pinoy drivers are one of the worst. syempre ang private drivers galit sa asal ng puv drivers. pero ang mga drivers din naman ng mga private vehicles may mga kalokohan din. eh kasi, pinoy. 😛
what really irritates me are the bus drivers. especially in the wee gours of the morning
jher> It’s funny how Pinoys often consider themelves as the best driver in the world because of their skill in weaving in and out of tight situations. When in reality, we are one of the worst.
Tin-tin> Bus drivers and jeepney drivers are one and the same, they’re both a**holes. The only difference between them are the size of their vehicles…
I stopped riding jeepneys when my grandfather died because of a road accident involving one (he had a mild heart attack while boarding a jeepney, and his death could have been entirely averted if that dipshit driver had not just accelerated as he was boarding. So he fell and died.) Even if it meant walking from Ateneo to UP and around the UP campus when I was still studying. As for buses, they’re really of the same meld as the jeepney drivers: ALL OF THEM CAN’T DRIVE.
Jane> Sorry to hear about your grandfather, Jane. It seems that, at the hands of these idiots, public utility vehicles such as jeeps and buses (even taxis) can be classified as “deadly weapons”.
It’s a relief that your relations wasn’t as gravely injured as what might have been. You’re right, some drivers nowadays can drive you to a murderous rage. Once I had the same experience as you had twelve years ago where I hit a fender because the jeepney in front of me suddenly stopped and went backward slowly. Maybe he had mnistaken the third gear for the backing gear or maybe he was just so stupid. He knew he was the one who was mistaken so he just agred to leave despite the damage on his rear end.
Major Tom> Know what, pare? If this were the ‘wild west’, the streets would have been littered with the bodies of these idiots. Almost everyone has a gripe against these maniacs…
I remember in Kuala Lumpur there were the pink “mini bus” .. and omg were they mad people who drove those busses!!!!! Even now words escape me, and about all I can do is shake my head in disbelief at teh memories of these maniacs on the road.
What did the malaysian government do?
I think they thought it was the busses, not the drivers, that caused all those acccidents… so they “encouraged” the setting up of another bus company equipped with much more modern vehicles… … … but we all wonder how many mini bus drivers got hired as the “new bus” drivers!
Well, saan ba nagsimula lahat ito, sa graft and corruption pa rin. LTO even issued a professional driver’s license to a blind man, imagine that pang-guinness talaga sa kapalpakan. Pera lang kasi ang katapat. There are good laws here, the problem is implementation. Walang kwenta talaga kapag nadadaan sa lagayan.
Hay, ilang beses na bang gustong hambalusin ng bakya o payong ang buwisit na puv drivers. Sobrang mga bastos, walang pakundangan sa kapwa, mapa-matanda o bata ang pasahero wala silang ingat sa pagmamaneho. Totoo naman, di lang puv drivers ang buwisit, marami talagang pinoy drivers ang di marunong ng disiplina. Na-high blood ako sa entry mo hah 🙂
Lynne> As I’ve always said, it’s the driver not the vehicle that causes accidents. I often wonder how and where these drivers learned how to drive, and how they were able to get their licenses.
Lani> Haha, yeah I also read about how the LTO was able to give a driver’s license to a blind man. Incredible, really. We might as well throw the law out of the window if we can’t even strictly implement them.
Cool ka lang, Lani.
the solution?
give a minimum wage to the driver so they don’t get paid based on the number of passengers they pick up. fixed loading and unloading zones and strict enforcement and stiffer fines for violations including fines for the owners who push their drivers because they pay them based on passengers paying the fare.
Jeepney drivers are the bane of Metro-manila traffic. I posted something similar to this just recently
http://aliezoid.blogspot.com/2011/02/filipino-jeepney-drivers.html
Aliezoid> That is so true… thanks for dropping by.