One common sight on our roads and highways here are broken down vehicles that have been left, right smack in the middle lane because of some mechanical or maintenance issue, and worse, some are even being repaired right there, with the owner/driver not even bothering to push the stricken vehicle toward the curb.
While it is unfortunate for anyone to suffer a mechanical failure while on a drive, isn’t it simply common sense and common decency on the part of the driver to make the effort to pull over to the side to address the issue. Or, if the vehicle is stopped in the middle of the road, then isn’t it their responsibility to put the car in neutral and push it to the side where they won’t be an obstruction to the rest of the public? After all, most mechanical issues will usually allow the car to be pushed or rolled a few more meters so it can be at a safer and less inconvenient spot for everyone concerned, however the annoying thing is that so many people simply cannot be bothered and the authorities don’t seem to care.
In an ideal world, a car wouldn’t break down. But if it does, it wouldn’t be left by their owners in the middle of the road because they’d be the kind of people who are aware that it is an inconvenience to everyone else. However, if they are the kind of people that don’t care about those kinds of things, then it is the local authorities that would make them do the right thing by way of penalties such as having the obstruction towed away, or fines so they are reminded not to be that kind of person again.
If that kind of behavior happens a lot, then it means that we live in a society where its people and its authorities don’t care about inconveniences being caused by individuals to the general public, which looks like an accurate description of our lot, at this point.
The primary reasons for a person not to move their stricken vehicle to the side of the road would probably be ignorance, laziness, lack of help, and totally no enforcement.
The ignorant make the excuse that moving their bogged down car could damage it further, so they leave it in the middle of the road while they call and wait for the professionals to move it. I’m not sure if the test for a driver’s license includes what to do in this scenario, maybe because it assumes that drivers have common sense and common decency, but knowing that you can put your distressed vehicle in neutral and roll it to the side of the road should be common knowledge. And those who don’t know that much should be penalized so they learn their lesson.
If a vehicle is starting to stall or mechanically fail, it should still have enough momentum or power to be able to make it to the side of the road, right? And even if it stalled in an awkward spot, 2-3 able bodied people should be able to push a car that is in neutral a few meters to the side of the road. Are the people who cannot be bothered to not cause a road obstruction and hazard just lazy and inconsiderate? That is very likely, but again, if we had authorities who did their job, those kinds of people would learn their lesson quickly enough. Instead, all we have now are the magical hazard lights, which serves as a magical solution to everything that happens on the roads of this country. To make matters worse, PUVs without hazard lights can just display their bench and everything will also be fine.
Now, if the driver is too weak to push a stricken car to a safer parking position, the sheer number of tambays and helpful Filipinos just waiting for a chance to be a hero for the day should provide enough assistance to make that simple thing happen. Right?
The only way this bad habit ends is if people are penalized with towing charges for leaving their cars in awkward spots. If they know that a tow truck will come up and pull their stricken car away because it is a hazard and an obstruction, then they wouldn’t leave it just anywhere. After all, that is what tow trucks are for. Instead, what we get are tow trucks that seem to have other priorities, and are good for only light vehicles. Since broken down vehicles of all sizes are always stuck in the middle of the road, it seems like the authorities also need tow trucks of all sizes too.
The situation is so badly normalized that people don’t just temporarily leave their cars in the middle of the road, some even have the gall to turn the middle lane into a repair shop. This is dangerous for everyone involved, but the authorities don’t seem to care, so we keep seeing it happen.
I wonder if things will ever change as far as that is concerned…*
