By SONIA B BANARES
THE MOTORCYCLE, or simply “motor”, is the most common means of
transport in Mambulao – whether one is moving around within the town or going
to places outside the poblacion, say to Larap and other baranggays.
With the bike, one is able to move around fast – and die fast.
Last April, MWBuzz learned that four bikers died in an accident
which could have been prevented if only they wore helmets.
In Sta Rosa, for instance, Ms Escobar’s (full name unknown) bike
slammed into a van and was thrown from her seat, her head hitting one side
of the vehicle hard. She died on the spot.
On Holy Thursday, a certain Mr Guevarra split open his head, his
brains splattered on the road when he was hit by a truck while biking. Wearing
no helmet, his head crashed on the pavement.
Like the first three bikers, a certain Mr Marikit, who was on
his bike – yes, you guess it – without a helmet and met his fate. He was hurled
from his bike and landed on the road pavement, head first. His fall was deadly.
“They could have survived the accident, if only they wore
helmet,” said Sandy Marasigan, referring to another incident where a
second-year student died while back-riding with his father in his scooter.
Rolling at top speed, the bike’s front tire hit a fist-size
stone, causing the scooter to swerve and tumble. The student had no chance,
while his father was seriously injured.
An obvious truck-motorcycle collision ... there is less chance that the biker could have survive this mishap.
There has been a standing local ordinance known as Jose
Panganiban Ordinance No 005-2007, which required “mandatory use/wear of safety
helmets by all single motorcycle rider”.
Sponsored by Councilor Arthur C Canlas, the ordinance wants to
ensure the safety of motorcyclists with the use of helmets, “to protect
(wearer) from the impact of the crash or to minimize head injuries that could
lead to brain damage and ultimate death”. This was approved on November 27,
2007.
On May 1, 2012, the Office of the Mayor began enforcing the
helmet policy. Here, all municipal employees riding a motorcycle – whether he
is the driver or the back-rider – are required to wear safety helmets.
“Disobedience shall be dealt with administrative sanctions aside
from penalties imposed under the ordinance,” said the notice posted on the
bulletin board on the ground floor of the town hall.
It was signed by Mar Alforque, the municipal human resource
development officer.
Gathering dust since being promulgated on November 27, 2007, the
no-helmet policy ordinance finally saw light and has been enforced since May 1.
It involved 10 traffic enforcers, who share in the amount of
fines collected from violators. These enforcers are not actually regular
municipal employees, but rather contracted to “do a job”.
For instance, Jesus Arnesto and Tony del Rosario said they would
earn 50% of all the fines collected, and the rest goes to the municipal
treasury.
The payment arrangement with the JP-LGU is sort of an incentive
for them to work harder – meaning to check every violator.
But of course, the “compadre” mentality does persist that many
still go free, said Arnesto and Del Rosario.
Mayor Dong Padilla was very explicit when he last briefed the
enforcers: No-one should be exempted and that the municipal employees should
serve as models.
Here’s a sampling of violations, as reflected on TCT (traffic
citation tickets) that had been issued: Rodirico Rieza: license expired- fine:
P100; Eric Torzar: driving without lincense – fine: P250; Joven Barcelo
(student): no license – P50; no helmet –P100; and Felix Saulon: no helmet- P100
and noisy muffler – P300.
Well, there are still lots of violations to cause an
apprehension and there are still many who would test the water to go around
them.
And don’t forget, there could still be more deaths to follow if
bikers would continue to ignore the importance of wearing a helmet.
A recent visitor from Pasig City, Ms Helen P Hernandez-Cortes,
noted while doing errands in town: “Aba, halos lahat ng mga naka-motor ay may
helmet … bakit kaya?”
A fatal accident involving a motorcycle and a delivery truck ... obviously, the biker was no match to this big vehicle.
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