Good news, there is now the ASEAN version of NCAP (New Car Assessment Program). It is an automobile safety rating program jointly established by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP). Basically, it is some group of people who will tell us how safe our motor vehicles are on the road.
How important is this to us as Filipinos, you may ask? As this is the Pinas, where you have tricycles plying national highways, where you have kuligligs as kings of the road and……the ever famous jeepney as part and parcel of your everyday commute, so I guess the answer then is, well… not so important.
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With the way us Pinoys take motor vehicle safety to an all new level of low, just take the following examples of our level of safety:
- Overloading – this is common in school shuttle services. Be it a surplus Korean van or a tricycle, school children using these modes of transport will always find a space to squeeze in. Even motorcycles here have space for 5 passengers.
- Motor vehicle maintenance – the Pinoy idea that a botched job is a good maintenance job. Puede na yan attitude is effective here. Macgyverisms, Pinoy style!
- Utter disregard for traffic regulations such as speed limits, overtaking zones, pedestrian crossings and road right-of-way. Ask manong driver what is the difference between stop and yield and I assure you they will not know. And they have a license and have been driving for decades.
- It is always believed that lack of discipline in Pinoy motorists is what gets them into accidents, but I disagree, as it is actually the lack of respect for the rule of law and of fellow road users. Mayayabang kasi ang mga pinoy na nasa likod ng manibela! Just count how many pointless accessories a motor vehicle has, and that is proportional to his kayabangan.
- Corruption – driver’s licenses are acquired through the LTO! Same goes that the vehicles are registered to them also.
The points above or a combination of them is what ails the Philippine motoring scene’s levels of safety. You will also find that these are very basic points that are within every Filipino motorist’s ability to control, aside from number 5 which requires government intervention. Yes that government. But why, for the love of Christ, does the LTO come up with idiotic memos.
- About LED lights – early this year, this memo just simply prohibited these type of lighting without any guidelines. This blew up on their faces, good riddance to them. I just cannot understand why LTO does not get it that it’s not so much as the brightness of the light that affects glare to the drivers of the oncoming vehicles but the proper focus of the headlights. Chances are you have also been blinded by a one-eyed jeepney because its single headlight is aimed at your face. It is so easy to check the proper focus of the lights, why can’t they just check and apprehend.
- Vintage cars – cars 40 years and older are only allowed to be driven on weekends. And how is this beneficial to the common motorist, if I may ask the LTO? Really? My car still has no stickers and plate number and you craft this memo?
- Many years ago, during the influx of used motor vehicles from Japan, many JDM (that’s Japanese domestic market to the non car guy) trucks got involved in a lot of fatal accidents. And the government crafted a law which prohibits RHD (right hand drive) vehicle use on the road and required them to be converted to LHD (left). And so fatal accident involving truck still happen up to this day. Talk about useless. And now enthusiasts like me have to shell out lots of money just to drive the rare JDM in the garage. In advanced countries, you can drive RHD in LHD traffic or vice versa. The guy who thought conversions from RHD to LHD must have been dropped on his head when he was a baby.
I am sure a lot of you would have many more to add. Why they never focused on quality drivers and quality motor vehicle is really beyond me. I have been paying the government every year so I can use my cars, for over two decades now, and I still end up with idiots on the road. Why they never focused on apprehending DUIs and as___le drivers is also beyond explanation.
I do believe though that change is coming to the government especially the LTO. The president-elect should know better than putting Abaya-like or Roxas-like people in vital agencies such as the LTO. This would be a welcome breath of fresh air. Who knows, the solution to traffic woes may just be that simple.
So much for that…. and oh yes, just in case you were wondering, that cheap small car you just bought brand new scored a zero on the ASEAN NCAP.
Hard hat, coveralls and safety shoes….. that’s my life.
NCAP will be just another “fucked up” program that some “fucked up” politicians came up with to help the Chinese and Korean-owned motor manufacturers and dealerships to sell more of their brand-name vehicles to the public.
NCAP has nothing to do with improving roadway safety and cleaning up the environment. If the government officials are really concerned about doing what is best for the country, they would improve the public transportation system, limit the number of commercial and privately-owned vehicles on the roadways, and enforce traffic rules and regulations.
Unfortunately, the greedy politicians are not going to do that because it will eat away at their bribe money and “kickback” profit.
Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one’s own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.
d_forsaken,
Are you saying what I wrote is not happening in the country?
Aeta
It’s not about what you wrote my friend. It’s about Failipinos and the so-called NCAP that they want to pursue.
It is the curse of the powerful to be blind to their own faults.
It’s like having the latest smartphone and only relying on free wifi for internet connection…
d_forsaken and joeld,
I see, d_ forsaken. To emphasize what both of you are saying, Fliptards like to take bites out of the trendiest sandwich in the country–just to say they’re in fashion–knowing there’s not meat in-between the slices of bread to satisfy their hunger. It’s all for show.
Aeta
Haha, i see this even here OUT of the country.
iphones with selfie wallpapers, fb and instagram the only installed custom apps.
40-inch tvs, still watch those telesync pirate movie rips.
tb-sized hard drives which contain 1-second grainy porn clips.
Toyota Yarises (Vios) with spoilers.
overpriced jordans with matching basketball outfits despite being clearly unfit to run even a hundred meters.
The list goes on, but the theme remains… “if you can’t play… display.”
Most of those passenger jeepneys, have motors that are 70 years old. They were manufactured in the 1040’s , during World War II. And they are still running, with spare parts canibalized from junk shops. Most of those Korean and Japanese cars sold in our country, are second hand cars.
In the first world countries, if your car is about 7 years old; with 70,000 mileage in it. We go to the car dealers, to trade it for a new one. We don’t want to spend too much in repairs. The dealers ship the refurbished cars to third world countries. Selling them as second hand cars.
These cars are “rolling coffins” running on Philippine highways. With Filipino drivers, not following traffic rules; and with the traffic police looking the other way; or most crazy driver given back their driver’s licenses, after being apprehended, for a few hundred pesos.
You got madness , driving in Philippine roads and highways. No wonder, we have a lot of traffic accidents…
When I look at the “policies” put into place by the LTO, I think about what possible business they are trying to cook. Who knows if they actually make deals with LTO people for these.
1. LED lights – If changing them is required, then the car owner has to go to some car accessory shops or motor shops to change them. Business made for these.
2. Vintage cars – Owners of these cars are thought to be rich, so if you see them going out on weekdays, probably someone was paid or bribed to allow them to go out. Or they are charged money for simply owning such vehicles, who knows.
3. RHD to LHD – Conversion means someone needs to work on them, and thus, business again for those doing the conversion.
Jeepneys, along with buses, another one of those things used with the stupid and should-be-banned boundary system.
“Mayayabang kasi ang mga pinoy na nasa likod ng manibela! Just count how many pointless accessories a motor vehicle has, and that is proportional to his kayabangan.”
– Readers, remember the Mitsubishi Strada incident a while back?
ChinoF,
“Mayayabang kasi ang mga pinoy na nasa likod ng manibela! Just count how many pointless accessories a motor vehicle has, and that is proportional to his kayabangan.”
Your statement support what I have been saying all along:
“Fliptards are aristocratic/arrogant (hambog) and self-serving/selfish (makasarili). Not just behind the wheels of their respective vehicles, but in all facets of their lives.”
We need to keep reiterating on this blog the excessive arrogance and selfishness of our people, so that we can bring these country-destructive traits to light as the root of our problems as a nation.
As I have told the other commenter (staser) as my “FUCK YOU” approach to waking our fellow Fliptards from their self-manifested delusions, “There is nothing to be proud (hambog) of as individual Fliptards, as long as the rest of the country suffers because of our selfishness (makasarili).”
Aeta
[Corrected Version]
ChinoF,
“Mayayabang kasi ang mga pinoy na nasa likod ng manibela! Just count how many pointless accessories a motor vehicle has, and that is proportional to his kayabangan.”
Your statement supports what I have been saying all along:
“Fliptards are aristocratic/arrogant (hambog) and self-serving/selfish (makasarili). Not just behind the wheels of their respective vehicles, but in all facets of their lives.”
We need to keep reiterating on this blog the excessive arrogance and selfishness of our people, so that we can bring these country-destructive traits to light as the root of our problems as a nation.
As I have told the other commenter (staser) as my “FUCK YOU” approach to waking our fellow Fliptards from their self-manifested delusions, “There is nothing to be proud (hambog) of as individual Fliptards, as long as the rest of the country suffers because of our selfishness (makasarili).”
Aeta
Thanks, though that quote is actually Joeld’s. I second you, focusing on reminding Filipinos of the value of real humility is needed.
LTO is FUBR. Let a world-class oligarch like SM or Ayala take over it’s corrupt operations.
We’ll have to wait for Google and Tesla’s autonomous driverless vehicles to come to our shores to remove the human factor on our roads.
Btw, I may be one of the lucky few who actually went through a practical driving exam at LTO when I applied for a driver’s license. That’s something I’m not ashamed of.