Jeepney killing people, Enforcers Apprehend Tuk Tuks

Yesterday a Jeepney killed a 14-year-old boy and injured 7 other students. Last month a Jeepney in Pasig City had an accident and 10 people were hurt.

Jeepney Deaths

Google News shows how common this is with headlines like.

• 6 killed, 18 injured in Albay Jeepney accident
• 1 dead, 21 injured in jeepney accident in Rizal
• 1 dead as bus slams jeepney unloading passengers in Sorsogon14 CDO students injured as jeepney loses brake
• Philippine Navy van collides with jeepney in Makati, 15 hurt

The list goes on and on and when you see the state of a lot of jeepneys it is a wonder there are not more deaths.

Bald tyres are common, brakes that are metal to metal is common, many drive with no lights on, the brake lights do not work, the same with indicators. Most other countries would put them in scrap yards.

The way many of them drive is shocking, they stop with no warning they stop two or three abreast blocking the while road, they pull out onto main roads without even looking, they jump traffic lights, they stop in the middle of the road to drop off passengers.

However they are not alone the standard of driving as a whole is terrible from motorcycle riders, car drivers all the way up to truck drivers make so many mistakes when driving, they are putting peoples lives in danger.

I once sat beside a busy road having a coffee with a friend counting the number of people committing traffic violations, in about 30 minutes we counted 132 violations.

Enforcement agencies often say they can not be everywhere and they are understaffed, this is true but it is also a reason they should prioritise what they go after.

They waste time going after Tuk Tuk drivers as they think they are tricycles because they have not bothered to read the definition of terms in the law that says a tricycle is a motorcycle with sidecar used to render services to the public. And while they are stood writing out a ticket to someone that was driving safely in a roadworthy vehicle probably 20 unsafe vehicles drive past without being stopped.

I have seen many times enforcers stand and watch bad driving and do nothing. In one case I was in a jeepney when another jeepney pulled out in front of us, the driver had to brake so hard all the passengers ended up in a pile at the front of the jeepney. Three traffic enforcers saw this happen and just stood and laughed. Yet if you drive past them in a three-wheeler they will pull you over and give you a ticket.

Do they think driving a three-wheeler is more dangerous than contra flowing, Cutting across junctions, jumping traffic lights, driving on the sidewalk, having bald tyres, no lights etc?

Safety of Jeepney vs Three-Wheeler

Three-Wheelers are made in state of the art factories and undergo strict testing on computerised testing equipment, they are also tested on torture tracks. This testing is done to make sure the vehicle is roadworthy.

The jeepney has no such tests is mainly made out of rigid steel that has little or no give in it. Having no give in it means in an accident every bit of the force is transferred to the passenger’s bodies which cause internal organs to be moved in the body which can lead to death.

Safety-wise the TVS King is the safest of the three-wheelers as it has a crumple zone like you find in modern cars.

There are far more dangerous vehicles on the road than the Tuk Tuk and far worse drivers than Tuk Tuk drivers. Unroadworthy vehicles and bad drivers are killing and injuring people, yet they do little to stop them, it seems they would rather go after Tuk Tuks.