COUNTER FLOWS AND SKIPPED LANES

It may just be a technicality, but the problem in the Metro Manila is not “traffic” as we know it, because there will always be “traffic” even if there is only one vehicle on the road. The problem in Metro Manila really is the flow of traffic here, which is almost always slow, and sometimes stagnant for so many hours. At the outset, some people would tend to think that slow traffic in Metro Manila is due to too many vehicles plying our roads here. That may be one of the reasons, but certainly that is not the only reason. Besides, I have observed that in some countries, the traffic would still flow smoothly, even if there are too many vehicles on the road. Perhaps even more vehicles that we could ever find here. Don’t laugh now, but I do believe that one of the causes of slow traffic in Metro Manila is behavior of our drivers, or in other words, the lack of discipline among our drivers, no matter what type of vehicle it is that they drive. To put it in another way, I do believe that the flow of traffic in Metro Manila could flow faster if only the drivers would obey all the traffic rules. What are these rules? It could be as simple as not overtaking where it is prohibited, not counter flowing in the wrong places, and not staying in the proper lanes everywhere. Of course, more refresher courses would help, but what would even help more is to penalize all the drivers who break the laws, and to raise their insurance rates if they violate. IKE SENERES/1-19-24