There is a trending social media account that hits the issue right on the head. Finally, someone has come up with an FB page solely dedicated to highlighting the city’s traffic offenders and road bullies. Its account name? Why, Davao Idiot Drivers, of course.
You just have to laugh at the playful but direct poke but honestly, any dedication to this sort of road discourtesy has really long been overdue. I remember back in the 70s, there used to be a radio program with the title “Bato, bato sa langit, and tamaan wag magagalit”, borrowed from a colloquial Tagalog phrase which largely meant exposing a hot issue out in the open and hoping that those concerned (although not mentioned by name) will not be offended. The tabloid media today has a term for it, blind item.
Davao Idiot Drivers is definitely like its modern version. Yet, even as the faces and plate numbers are pixelized or air-brushed, the violators behind the wheel are still spectacularly framed in clear stills (and sometimes videos) for all to see.
Surely, if you ask any commuter or even those behind the wheel, they will attest to having had close encounters of the third kind with these thriving pests on our roads. Their kind is present in all the types of transportation mentioned in the vehicle classification table of the LTO. Starting from huge vehicles down to motorcycles, they appear evenly distributed and appear to increase in number; directly proportionate to vehicle volume.
Call it territorial, it’s in the long stretches of highways between cities where huge trucks (which include passenger buses) often lord it over smaller transports. However in recent times, these heavyweights of the road face stiff competition from speeding four-by-fours and those pesky motorcycles that often travel in hordes (especially on weekends), complete with blinding LED lights even in day time.
In the downtown area, now infamous for its crawling traffic jam, one can only shake one’s head at open violations. It’s so common now to witness U turns in no U-turn signs, overtaking in double lines road markers or not respecting designated lanes, just to get ahead of the rest. Cutting ahead of smaller cars also appear common, with SUVS, taxicabs and semis as culprits and this is made worse by smaller motorcycles who weave into stalled vehicles in traffic. Special mention to those food and goods deliveries.
Let’s not even fail to mention the final entry in this list of dubious characters, the minions. They’re the yellow/orange uniformed traffic enforcers who are planted in many street corners and crossroads. The question remains, try as they might, one can only wonder, what’s their impact on the above-mentioned state of road revelry happening in this fair city of ours?
