There are a few simple traffic rules that should be very easy to enforce but if done consistently, should set the mood to enhance the discipline and order in an entire city or metropolitan area.
The first easily enforced traffic rule would be no U-turn on major roads and highways. This is enforceable because first of all, everybody knows what a U-turn is, and secondly, if people don’t know what a major road or highway is, that should be remedied by appropriate signage such as simple No U-turn signs.
On busy roads such as main thoroughfares, the U-turn is one of the most entitled moves a driver can pull. It benefits only one vehicle yet inconveniences everyone else, while at the same time blocking up to 4 lanes of traffic, or taking up a lot of time if the U-turn being attempted is a multi-point one. Yet here in Negros, nobody thinks twice about doing a U-turn on major roads like Bacolod’s Lacson Street, which is made extra annoying by the fact that the grid design of the city’s streets makes such a move totally unnecessary if only everyone would make the extra effort not to be a pain in the ass.
In the case of Lascon Street, anyone who intends to do a U-turn should be made aware that they can most likely just take 3 right turns and 1 left turn so they don’t block traffic if they want to go back the way they came.
Among U-turners, the worst kind are those who don’t even pick their spot to be a dick. U-turns are already generally an annoyance, but a lot of the time we are cursed with terrible U-turners who can’t even be bothered to pick a spot where they can smoothly make their move with the least inconvenience to other motorists. They just do their thing whenever they feel like it, not waiting for or rolling to a spot where the traffic is lighter, where the road is less crowded, and where they can make their move in 1 turn, instead of doing a multi-point turn in the middle of the road, effectively blocking multiple lanes of what should’ve been smooth flowing traffic.
The next easily enforceable traffic rule would be illegal and double parking. These people who park where they are not supposed to and those who think that turning on hazard lights give them the permission to do anything they want deserve to be penalized so they learn the lesson and everyone else is warned that the authorities are serious about enforcing at least some of the simpler traffic rules.
Illegal parking is a problem that the Bacolod City government has tried to confront, but the effort didn’t seem to be sustained. There were a few areas where clamping operations have discouraged illegal parking but it seems like the authorities have lost appetite for sustaining their efforts. Aside from being ningas cogon, it is generally a bad thing for such an initiative when the enforcers didn’t even bother learning how to install the tire clamps properly. A crackdown on illegal parking should be easy to enforce if the no parking zones are identified and the enforcement is consistent.
The same should be true for the hazard-using double parkers, as those violators are made more easily identified and penalized not only stand out like a sore thumb when they block an entire lane, but even advertise their presence with blinking hazard lights. These vehicles clog up the road, just because their owners are too lazy to walk, so their chauffeurs have to wait right outside wherever they are. Even worse are those who leave their cars with hazards on, while they “quickly pop in” to do whatever it is they “need” to do at everyone else’s expense. Why the authorities have been letting them get away with it, only the parking Gods know.
Just starting and sticking with two basic, easily enforced traffic rules can send an important message to motorists that there are rules that must be followed, and they are not mere suggestions. Once everyone knows that doing prohibited stuff gets you penalized and inconvenienced, they will think twice when it comes to the other rules that might not be as common sense to enforce, but when the public knows that the authorities are serious, the job becomes a lot easier for those in charge.
As long as the affected areas are clearly marked, any traffic enforcer or deputized barangay tanod should be able to enforce the rules against illegal U-turns and parking. A vehicle making a U-turn cannot say that it is accidental because it is one of the most deliberate actions to make when driving. The same is true for parking.
However, if it seems easy to enforce in theory, why is it so hard for the authorities to do in practice?*
