Slow Down

I did write a few months back that it would be ridiculous for Naga City to have a speed limit. Vehicles can’t even speed up. Well, I guess they could through San Felipe to Pacol and Carolina, all the way to Panicuason, or Cararayan to San Isidro, or Concepcion Grande to Del Rosario. But everywhere else, it’s just not feasible.

Now, I’m rethinking that position and pivoting towards the idea that maybe we need a speed limit. Maybe drivers need to slow down. If you think you’re already going slow enough, maybe we should all go considerately slow, for the sake of pedestrians, restraint, and safety.

It started during the fiesta season, followed a few weeks later by an incident that resulted in an elderly lady’s death, then another involving a child, which thankfully did not result in death. Someone told me there were other similar incidents. Exasperatingly, these accidents occur on pedestrian lanes. People wait to cross because that’s presumably the safe and legal course. I once told off a friend for not crossing through a nearby zebra lane because that’s the right thing to do. That should be the safe place to cross. But people are getting run over on pedestrian lanes, of all places.

I remember one of my college professors who believed that accidents are contagious, meaning a certain type of accident would replicate itself within days. I thought it was a whole lot of nonsense. Maybe it was superstition. Maybe she got that idea from watching or listening to the news. Newswriters would lump similar events like car crashes, stabbings, and robberies together, even when they were unrelated and occurred in different places. Viewers or listeners might then think these incidents were a chain triggering one another. But I’m starting to reconsider that position. Maybe this is some sort of contagion. Suddenly, car drivers seem to have been taken by a wave of speeding up or not seeing crossers, resulting in heart-crushing accidents.

With these events, we have been seeing police officers patrolling pedestrian lanes, presumably making themselves visible so drivers would slow down. We appreciate the added protection. But isn’t this ridiculous? It’s like guarding restroom doors to make sure males and females enter their designated rooms. It’s like tasting a drop of water from a bottle before drinking it to make sure it’s safe. It’s like thoroughly examining every coin and bill before accepting them for payment. Cops are ensuring the safety of an area that should be safe in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong. The police presence is good. But if drivers and pedestrians were aware and careful enough, everyone could go about their way in safety.

Republic Act No. 4136, Section 35 — Restriction as to speed — requires drivers to travel at a careful and prudent speed, considering traffic and road conditions. It prohibits driving at a speed that endangers anyone or prevents the driver from stopping within the assured clear distance ahead. Section 42(c) — Right of way — states that drivers in business or residential districts must yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing within a crosswalk, subject to exceptions for traffic controlled by an officer or signal.

I wouldn’t blame drivers who don’t know these provisions. I didn’t even know they existed. I just know by common sense that lanes with white stripes are the right places to cross the road, and drivers should respect them by slowing down. It’s something we as a society silently agree on.

Maybe it’s the rush. When you’re coming from SM and turning toward Panganiban, from Robinson’s toward Diversion, or going through Magsaysay, traffic can get frustrating. You might seize the opportunity to go faster when the road opens up. The one holding the steering wheel just wants to get out and run free of the jam that keeps the wheels from burning rubber.

Maybe it’s the idea that when a vehicle runs down a road, it’s the pedestrian’s responsibility to keep away because they’d get hurt otherwise. The road is for vehicles. Pedestrians cross only when cars have gone by. They should wait for a lull when no vehicles are coming and going. So, a car could cruise through, and the crossers better make way for it.

Whatever it is, slow down for safety’s sake. A few seconds saved on the road will never be worth a life lost. Pedestrian lanes should be places of safety, not places where people fear for their lives. Drivers, slow down and look out for people crossing. Pedestrians, stay alert, too. Those responsible for road safety must ensure our streets are safe even when no police officer is watching. We should not have to rely on police presence just to feel safe crossing a road. Safety should not depend on who is watching. It is a responsibility we all carry whenever we use the road. Every person crossing that street is someone’s parent, child, friend, or loved one, and everyone deserves to get home alive.

Psalm 4:8 ““In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.””