Motoring Today Column

Jan 17, 2018

"Nawalan ng preno" , or brake failure is one of the most used, overused and abused reasons of drivers for road accidents, especially for horrendous ones. It's seldom, or perhaps never driver error, as I guess no driver is stupid enough to admit that.

So now I wonder what excuse would drivers involved in accidents think of next should the present crack down on "rolling coffins" or dilapidated and unworthy public utility vehicles (PUV) being implemented by the government go relentlessly unforgiving and consistent, as it appears to be now.

Baring that this would not be another "ningas cogon" foray of the government just to earn "pogi points" from the public, we would expect a hastened leveling up of public utility vehicles. Especially if this campaign would be coupled with the promised fielding of modern jeepneys that meet specified designs and standards like engines with Euro 4 emissions, if not electric-run, side-door entry and exit, front-facing seats equipped with seat belts, auto fare collection, cctv, free wifi, etc.

As many of us expected, none or very few PUVs if any would pass the quality and safety inspection being conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on vehicles that are smoke belchers or appear to be dilapidated. But the big question is how these vehicles in question were they able to register and ply their routes in such a state when they were supposed to have passed the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) tests prior to registration?

But don't wrack your brains thinking about how did it really happen because in fact and in deed we don't have a working MVIS in the country that is suppose to determine PUVs as to whether they are smoke belchers or rolling coffins or not prior to registration. At the most we may have probably one or two in the country that are half working, which are suppose to test hundreds of thousands of PUVs yearly, indeed a close to impossible task, if not utterly impossible. This situation leads us to conclude that we have a "diploma mill" in the issuance of certification of roadworthiness.

Now there are reports that the government is mulling to have "mobile testing equipment" that would actually perform these emission and roadworthiness tests. The word "mobile" worries me as the tests could be conducted roadside, as was practiced before, which caused more traffic flow obstruction. And a non-permanent site somehow could be more prone to possible collusion and corruption.

Currently we see less and less smoke belchers among the ranks of private vehicles. This could be a sign that the privatization of vehicle testing prior to registration may be finally working. It is possible that the digital safeguards in place, which are designed and implemented to assure that actual testing of vehicles are sufficient to eradicate the "no show" malpractice. Furthermore, the present long time players in this industry are now there for the long haul may not find a few pesos coming from unscrupulous owners who don't have the time to wait for the actual testing of their vehicles worth jeopardizing their established enterprises.

Having said that, isn't it high time to similarly privatize the motor vehicle inspection system for PUVs? Not unless the government now has enough money to put up nationwide the needed MVIS centers to look into all of the country's PUVs to ensure their roadworthiness.

The Chamber of Automobile Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) finally confirmed its renewed sponsorship of the Young Street Smarts Road Safety School Tour (YSSC) for school year 2017 - 2018.

Established in 2010 bySocio Com Foundation for Asia (Socio Com) and organized and conducted bySunshine Television ( STV), the YSSC is a series of road safety seminar-workshops conducted FREE for high school students with some teachers and parents in attendance.

As the country's biggest automotive association, CAMPI's second year of sponsorship is attuned to its overall effort as major stakeholders to promote road safety and the public's awareness to its significance.

In their initial participation last school year CAMPI stated that, "It is not only about manufacturing or selling safe automobiles that our membership has its focus on, but is also much concerned about the safety of the general motoring public composed of drivers, bikers, commuters and pedestrians… The YSS Road Safety School Tour is one of the most effective ways to teach young students how to be a safe and responsible road user… And supporting this road safety advocacy is a natural corporate and social responsibility of all CAMPI members. "

For this school year the CAMPI Young Street Smarts Road Safety School Tour has visited the following schools, namely;

1. Colegio de los Baños with a total of 216 attendees composed of Grades 11 and 12 students, 11 members of the faculty and those from the Rotary Club of Los Baños.

2. Lourdes School of Mandaluyong with 304 attendees composed of Grades 11 & 12 students and 6 faculty members.

3. Mary Help of Christians Mabalacat where 360 grades 7 to 12 students, 5 faculty 3. members and 5 parents.

4. PAREF Northfield School for Boys with 157 students from Grades 10 to 12 and a faculty member attending.

5. Don Bosco Pampanga where 248 Grade 11 students participated joined by 10 members from the Parent's Council and 5 School Service drivers.

At least 5 more schools from Metro Manila and near adjoining provinces are still on queue until the end of the school year.

That's how convenient it is now to find out the latest transportation and traffic management news, vehicle maintenance and road safety tips, international motorsports events, together with all the other varied facets of motoring just by clicking on www.motoringtoday.ph .

While for reviews of the latest automobile models as well as head-to-head comparisons of their features, car launches and test drive events, and anything and everything about the automobile and its industry there's www.autofocus.com.ph .

Both websites are the online versions of the TV magazine shows Motoring Today and Auto Focus and they offer the best of both worlds to viewers-a choice of selective viewing of portions or watching the entire episode on its 'TV streaming page' to include past episodes as well any time of the day.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries (email)