Motoring Today Column

Jul 06, 2016

I remember when we initially formed SPMJ (Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists) more than a decade ago, its then exclusive membership of top-ranked print and broadcast journalists, all road safety advocates unanimously agreed on embarking on a project that we all believed would promote road safety among our country's youth. We targeted the young populace because we felt that starting them young would be a lot easier than trying to teach "old dogs new tricks". We thought we leave to the traffic authorities the Herculean task of teaching present clueless holders of driver's licenses about traffic discipline.

Our approach was to help guide teachers on how to teach their students about the responsible use of roads as a commuter, a driver or a pedestrian. To achieve this we had a formal teaching module prepared by a government agency specifically tasked to deal with traffic management and education, the UP NCTS (National Center for Transportation Studies). The teaching module did not come cheap but we were very fortunate the local auto industry helped underwrite the costs by car manufacturers and importers gamely participating in a series of fund-raising golf tournaments.

When the teaching module was finally done after a series of consultations even with psychology experts to make sure that its approach would effectively correspond to the age of the students it was intended for, a bigger problem to hurdle presented itself - gathering teachers together (especially those from public schools) for seminars on how to use the teaching modules. We learned that the teachers already had a full week's schedule that having these seminars on Saturdays would effectively take away their only day in the week to do their home chores like going to the market, doing the laundry, spending time with their children and meeting other vital family responsibilities that they couldn't attend to during the other days of the week when they spend their entirety working on their teaching requirements in the school.

Despite hitting a blank wall we still managed to hold quite a few workshops until we decided to shelve it and wait for a better time to push the project. But we didn't want to miss a beat in promoting our road safety advocacy so we tried to push a little bit more, this time by going straight to then Education Secretary Butch Abad to propose the inclusion of a particular subject in the student's curriculum that would deal with road safety. My tukayo patiently explained to me how fully packed the students’ curriculum was with a line of proposals for additional subjects like entrepreneurship and others that I cannot remember anymore, which they cannot also accommodate - another blank wall.

But fate deemed it should not die. The concept of teaching our youth to become responsible road users stayed alive when I decided for Sunshine TV to collaborate with friends and form a partnership with Socio Com Foundation, similarly composed of motoring enthusiasts and road safety advocates to conduct free road safety seminars and workshops for high school senior students.

The Young Street Smarts Road Safety School Tour is now on its 8th year, having conducted seminars and workshops to more than 35 schools, some repeatedly year after year, reaching more than 20,000 students, counting the local auto industry, through its biggest organization, the Chamber of Automobile Manufacturers in Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) as its biggest supporter.

Having attended almost all of these seminars and workshops, I know for a fact that we are filling a void for knowledge regarding road safety among these students. And the government with its resources can do a better job than we in the private sector, in a limited way, can do.

Having said that, the prospect of including road safety and discipline in the school curriculum as suggested by the MMDA must be looked into by the present government very deeply. Responsible use of our roads as a pedestrian, commuter and driver can ultimately promote road safety. And better traffic flow too.

A Chevron statement released during the presentation said, "Ever conscious of the needs of motorists, the Caltex brand has reformulated its signature additive package with the addition of a new Clean & Glide technology. The new active ingredients are specifically designed to clean and protect metal surfaces within the engine. Helping reduce friction and thus wear and tear between key engine components. Clean & Glide technology delivers enhanced engine protection, improved fuel economy and maximized power with continued use over time, all key in helping provide a more reliable motoring experience."

This new improved fuel formulation is now available nationwide in all Caltex service stations and is vaunted to work wonders even for old vehicles.

Lead by business tycoons, Greg Yu and Felix Ang, Auto Nation Group's chairman and president respectively, the elegant launch presented the new Mercedes Benz E-Class as the most intelligent, most comfortable and sporty business sedan ever.

Some of its high tech features as laid out to the gasping crowd include; Dynamic Select with 5 driving programs where a cockpit switch facilitates selection of different modes such as Comfort, ECO, Sport, Sport + and Individual or personalized, then there's the Infotainment system that connects to the Internet, which comes with resolution media display (12.3-inch screen) that has fast hard-disc navigation with 3D map display, 3 different suspension systems, etc., to name a very few.

There's still a big mouth-full to say about the new Mercedes Benz E-Class but my words may not do justice to describe its other remarkable features and getting to see it up close with an actual test drive is our best advice.

The weekly automobile show will also have a feature-to-feature comparison of the Honda Brio and the new Mitsubishi Mirage with the 2nd leg of the 2016 Vios Cup as the week's Special Feature together with the latest news and developments in the local auto industry.

You can also check it out online www.autofocus.com.ph