Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Carvajal: Potential extra-judicial killers By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
I HAVE bought a small farm in Argao and built a farmhouse. For about a month now, since the house became livable, I have driven to Argao on weekends to get away from the stress of city living. The short drive has acquainted me with the characters I will be writing about today. These characters are what I would call potential extra-judicial killers although it is quite probable their wanton recklessness has killed some already.
First are the drivers of baby buses plying the short route from Sibonga or Carcar to Cebu or on the other side maybe from Dumanjug and Barili. To a man these drivers weave in and out of traffic and squeeze past you while the conductor, with the help of some passengers at the back, waves you away from the bus with his hands. You have to make some quick maneuver to get out of the way for it’s either you allow yourself to get waved away or suffer being sideswiped by the speeding bus.
This is by any standard of civilized living very rude behavior, a very reckless way to drive, and an irresponsible disregard for the safety of people on the road. I cannot help but wonder how many people have been killed by these buses and what is being done by our authorities to discipline the drivers. These baby buses are accidents waiting to happen because their drivers and conductors drive literally like crazy with the least bit of care about what happens should they make an error.
The other potential extra-judicial killers are some drivers of the long-haul bigger buses and cargo trucks. With the bigger buses and trucks, however, I take issue only with a few drivers, unlike in the case of the baby buses which seem to be driven one and all in much the same reckless way.
Last Sunday, I was following one of these drivers and I could hardly believe what he was doing. He would pass another car even when the coast was not clear. He would pass anyway if the oncoming vehicle was of the smaller variety like a multicab, a small car or a tricycle. He would force all of these smaller vehicles to scamper to the relative safety of the shoulders so he could pass (overtake) another vehicle. It was very rude for this bully of a driver and it was most scary just watching him.
Some very fundamental road courtesies are being violated here that could lead to serious injuries and even death. Our law enforcers should really do something about this. Whatever happened to our highway patrol? How can highway driving rules be strictly observed without them?
If we value life we should fight to protect it from everybody who irresponsibly puts it in harm’s way. We should object to extra-judicial killings not only by the barrel of a gun but also by vehicles driven by speed maniacs.
