Are Filipinos aware that they are violating traffic laws?
Drive around the country, and within the day, you will certainly catch some committing traffic violations. Ask them and surely, not one of them will likely claim that they do not know the law.
When disobeying the traffic rules and regulations on the road, one simply throws road safety out of the window. Why? Because the creation of such legislation has the objective to ensure that everyone—driver and rider alike—would be safe while on the road.
We know for a fact that there are corresponding penalties should you violate Philippine traffic laws. But do these penalties have enough teeth to deter frequent violators? A very good example would be drivers and commuters blatantly disregarding traffic signs, thereby causing minor altercations to massive accidents.
A report by Carmudi Philippines in 2017 revealed that the most commonly-violated traffic laws in the country—based on records of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)—have the cheapest fines.
Disregarding traffic signs, the top traffic violation being committed, only has a fine of P150 for the first, second, and third offenses. For a working Juan, either they try to get away with it by saying sorry, by not getting caught, or by just paying the P150 fine.
The gospel truth about this is that drivers lack the knowledge or discipline to follow Philippine traffic laws. But this does not make them less liable to the law.
What makes it worse is that a number of erring traffic enforcers overlook the violations by engaging with shady dealings with these violators. This type of problem has been hounding the country since time immemorial. Doing such means they are belittling their power to create orderly and peaceful traffic within their mandate.
Carmudi made a short video about this.
Tags:
