‘Nag-hazard man ko!’

Egay Uy

HOT heads and arrogant road users ought to frequent the freezer before they meet their match on the roads. They may be among those who have been used to violating traffic rules with impunity because of some distorted concepts of connections with higher authorities.

I was cruising along JR Borja Street on a peak hour one day last week when I saw an SUV parked right on the travel lane with emergency lights blinking. I stopped beside the SUV, and asked the driver to move his vehicle because he was obstructing the free flow of traffic.  His initial reaction was, “Nag-hazard man ko!”

When I replied that he was using his emergency lights wrongly, he shouted, “Kinsa man ka?” With this, and in order not to obstruct what remained of the traffic flow, I parked my car a few meters away (because there were several vacant parking spaces ahead) and walked back to the SUV.

I told him he had to move his vehicle because he was obstructing the flow of traffic. Again, his reply was, “Nag- hazard man ko!” to which I said his obstructing traffic does not qualify as an emergency, and that he had to move his vehicle away from the travel lane.

His next utterance was, “Kinsa man ka? Si Congressman xxx ko!” and then probably realizing that his being a legislator should have told him to obey traffic rules, he signaled with his thumbs up and moved his SUV. I did not recognize the driver, and I’m not sure if he was indeed a congressman.

Incidents like this are not uncommon in our streets and the blame is immediately put on the traffic enforcement officer and office, especially when photos or videos find their way to social media sites. People who have been used to violating laws with impunity do not seem to realize that their right to use the roads are naturally regulated by the right of others who also have similar rights, e.g., motorists, pedestrians and commuters.

Other examples of road arrogance and hallucinations of impunity include drivers of public transport vehicles who wait for passengers on the travel. Sadly the usual response is, “Daplin na man ko!”

We know it’s still a long shot to change the bad habits and negative attitudes of road users. One of the major focus areas now of the RTA-TFHD is to strengthen the Education Team and come up with programs that will hasten the inculcation of good road use habits among motorists and better understanding of the rights and restrictions of pedestrians and commuters.

We will not even talk about the zero budget anymore.