I WAS unfortunate to get entangled in a carmageddon on the north bound side of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) last Friday brought about by vehicular accidents. The said mishap involved two trailer trucks with one falling a bit on the shoulder and the other having its trailer body blocking the freeway with a great number of vehicles homeward north.
The two trailer trucks might have figured in the accident due to the heavy downpour on the mid-afternoon of Friday. These are trucks which forms a number “seven” when turning due to their long-bodied trailers they pull.
As per personal description of the accident, the drivers of the said heavy vehicles might have pressed hard on the brakes, making the trucks’ bodies to swerve. The drivers might have lost control of the swerving thus the mishap.
As I cruised the north-bound lane in a very slow-paced stride along with other vehicles, I cannot help myself thinking as to why many vehicles have to suffer long as a result of the mishap. The expressway management should have immediately investigated the accident scene and should have moved the stalled trucks instantly to avoid the blocking of other vehicles.
As per information from social networking sites, the accident happened around 3 p.m. resulting into the carmageddon lasting up to 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, as soon as inched my way towards north, I saw another accident involving a number of vehicles on the opposite lanes of the expressway, making the flow of the north-bound traffic much worse.
I saw vehicles queued on a full stop from the San Fernando exit reaching the Angeles exit or around 16 kilometers of lined-up cars, vans, buses and trucks helpless of the traffic stall.
While there are cars of the NLEx patrolling our expressways, they, most of the time wait for police investigators before they can move vehicles involved in accidents. The waiting for the police consumes a lot of considerable time as such causes traffic snarls.
Traffic accident investigation in the country is a bit primitive. Drivers of vehicles involved in accidents have to wait for responding policemen before they can move their vehicles. Sometimes, when there are vehicle passengers injured or hurt, have to wait at the mercy of ambulances or any good Samaritans who will take them to the nearest hospitals or medical clinics.
For the injured or nearly experiencing death, time is of the essence as every minute counts for any medical procedure aside from the application of first aid procedures. Authorities investigating traffic accidents on the other hand, need to be at accident sites to avoid the traffic congestion of roads, to immediately gather evidence needed in the course of the investigation and for victims of accidents be immediately given proper medical attention.
If I may suggest to the NLEx management, perhaps they can have contingency measures ready should vehicle accidents of such kind happen. NLEx users are paying customers that do not deserve much time on traffic jams. In the first place, one reason that they are using the expressways is to save time.
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