News *Filipino Drivers

*Filipino Drivers

SUNDAY TIMES
www.manilatimes.net
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Why Pinoys make lousy drivers
IN the old days the folks called it “abilidad,†the ability to put one over a person or the government. Being “wais†(wise) enabled one to circumvent the rules or the law.
The current word is “palusot,†which means the same thing: getting ahead at somebody’s expense or abbreviating the rules to achieve your goal.
Having been lorded over by colonizers (Spanish, Americans and Japanese), spiked by businessmen and abused by the politicians, Johnny de la Cruz learned to survive by outwitting the system.
Managing to beat the rules was (and is) not a character flaw. It is an attribute of a fighter and a survivor. It is an asset devoutly to be wished.
There are many variations of abilidad. Jumping the line. Not paying the correct income tax. Stealing juice from the electric line. Pilfering water from an illegal connection. Getting up from the table and leaving the company when it’s time to pay the bill. Cheating on a school exam.
Besides, the system winks at small-time cheating. Bureaucrats have set up fixers to expedite applications. Government inspectors will turn away from a violation for a sum of money. We have the best accomplices that money can buy.
Moreover, the system plays favorites. The government enforcers do not implement the law fairly and squarely. Friends, relatives, the privileged and name-droppers get favors ordinary Joes do not. Why do journalists plaster the “Press†badge on their windshields?
From these culture, practices and rules come the Filipino as Driver, also known as the king of the road and the worst in the world.
A wise man once observed that a Pinoy changes the moment he owns a car. His sense of power grows. He regards the car as an extension of himself, something to display, crow about and protect.
The Pinoy who learns to drive (without necessarily owning a car) also becomes a transformed person. He has joined a select fraternity. He has acquired a skill not every mortal has. He can impress family, friends and neighbors. Girls like guys with wheels.
The new mobility could make one heady. The car owner or driver could travel almost anywhere. His world has expanded. So have his territorial claims.
Almost every Pinoy learns driving from friends and relatives, using the family or someone else’s car. Professional driving schools are not big business here. So he learns his values and attitudes—the rules of the road—from someone close. He picks up the driving habits of the tutor.
He is taught, of course, to be careful on the road. Practice defensive driving. Watch out for the other driver. Obey traffic rules. He also picks up tricks and bad driving tips.
However he turns out—car owner, professional driver, cab, bus, truck or jeepney driver—the new motorist is a born-again person.
His first brush with the system comes when he applies for a student driving permit or a professional license. At the LTO he learns that he can pass the written test by getting a “codigo,†(crib paper that supplies the answers) or can forgo the exam and the driving test for grease money.
His preparation for life behind the wheel does not include instructions on basic road courtesy, knowing and respecting traffic signs and elementary driving rules.
But the car owner does learn, and practice, the rules of road survival, such as:
Jumping the lights.
Overspeeding.
Weaving in and out of traffic.
Drinking while driving.
Squeezing his car between narrow, designated lanes.
Blasting his horn unnecessarily.
Illegal parking.
Taking possession of the sidewalk.
Ignoring safety signs.
Giving up the safety belt.
Overtaking another car the dangerous way.
Bribing the traffic cop.
In a hit-and-run case, fleeing from the accident.
Try to have his car—for status—outfitted with an alarm or flashlight.
Hogging the intersection when he should have stopped on a red light.
Not giving the other vehicle the right of way.
Blowing up and engaging another driver in a fight over right of way or parking space.
Ignoring pedestrians’ safety by hurtling down the road.
The professional driver (bus, jeep or cab driver) specializes in:
Overloading.
Questionable loading and unloading of passengers.
Cutting trips.
Playing loud music.
Negotiating a set fare (for cabbies) with a passenger on rainy or busy days.
Ignoring passengers looking for a ride when the mood strikes him.
Paying a kotong cop off.
Allowing students to ride dangerously at the back or foot board of the jeepney.
Driving a smoke belcher.
Living with a noisy engine.
And doing what everyone is doing: jumping the lights, weaving in and out of traffic, overtaking the wrong way, ignoring road signs, illegal parking and violating basic road courtesy.
Jenson Button, the famous British Formula One racer, once visited the country and went away saying he would not drive in a jungle like Metro Manila.
Another stranger sang the hymn to New York City: “If I can make it (drive) there, I’ll make it anywhere…â€
--Edong Manabat

sad but true...