There Must Be Something Wrong

If People don’t do what they know they should do, then there should only be one reason. There must be something wrong somewhere, somehow.

In 2011, Bayawan City passed the so-called “Helmet Ordinance”. This is such a good idea and this also has a noble purpose which is to carve motorcycle accident related injuries and indeed deaths.

I am for safety myself. I always believe in the saying, “prevention is better than cure.” I know it’s a cliché, a very common saying, but it has all the truth in it.

Being from the neighbouring town of Sta. Catalina, and being an advocate of safe driving myself, I really thought that it is high time such an ordinance is passed. I also hope that my own home town would follow suit.

Just to have a taste of how it feels to be driving in all comfort and safety, I went to the city of Bayawan to have a first-hand experience of this. But surprisingly, what greets me in the city is a totally different reality.

 
First, on the boundary of Sta. Catalina and Bayawan City, next to the police outpost was written in big letters, “WE IMPLEMENT HELMET LAW IN BAYAWAN CITY” with corresponding penalties if somebody is caught and so on. This sounds good, doesn’t it? And right there and then, somebody riding a motorcycle came passed through me, wearing short pants and a basketball jersey wearing no helmet, nothing to protect himself and the police man just looked at him as if nothing happens. So I simply said to myself ‘what’s going on here?’

Second, I went on a little further and suddenly a man, apparently drunk, fell down his motorcycle right in the middle of the road. He wears no helmet and his head hit the tarmac first. He was also driving fast. So the ambulance came and took him to the hospital, dying. This happened just a few meters away from the police outpost. And not a policeman did anything, except when the accident-fallen man, was about to be taken to the hospital. So, sadly, they came only to record the incident and nothing more.

 Third, going still further, I noticed that in fact I was the only “Mohican” that was wearing a helmet. I simply did not see anybody else wearing a helmet aside from myself. So what happened to the law? And how is it being implemented if nobody is following it and at the same time nobody is arrested or at least being reprimanded for not obeying the law?

Here is the funny thing about this. On my way home, on a highway, not being in a hurry, I drove very slowly. Then two persons, a man and a woman, went in front of me driving considerably fast. They had a helmet each, alright. But the thing is they both had their helmets on their arms and not on their heads. I mean, it really defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Helmets are for heads not for arms, mind you. There are other things that are fit to protect our arms when driving a motorcycle. We know that, of course. Anyway, just to cut the long story short, knowing that those two motorcyclists are going to pass through the police outpost I mentioned earlier, I followed them behind. As soon as we come close to the check point area, my mind tells me that at least, they should tell the two to wear their helmets on their heads and not on their arms because then it becomes absolutely useless to have helmets without wearing them properly. But, perhaps, this is not really my lucky day. The two police men sitting down comfortably under a tree just looked at them and not one of the two moved a muscle to do his job.

Here is the deal. Republic Act 10054, also known as the Motorcycle Helmet Law, requires any motorcycle riding person to wear a helmet. And, as a matter of fact, just to show this is a serious matter, the law provides corresponding penalties if somebody is caught disobeying it. SEC. 3. Of the said ACT says: “Mandatory Use of Motorcycle Helmets. — All motorcycle riders, including drivers and back riders, shall at all times wear standard protective motorcycle helmets while driving, whether long or short drives, in any type of road and highway.” There is also a corresponding penalty if somebody chooses to disobey the law and is subsequently  caught. SEC. 7. Penalties. Says — “(a) Any person caught not wearing the standard protective motorcycle helmet in violation of this Act shall be punished with a fine of One thousand five hundred pesos (Php1,500.00) for the first offense; Three thousand pesos (Php3,000.00) for the second offense; Five thousand pesos (Php5,000.00) for the third offense; and Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) plus confiscation of the driver's license for the fourth and succeeding offenses.’

So really, the law is there. But does anybody really care? Well, apparently, not many. Surely not those riders I encountered on the streets of Bayawan City. Not those two who decided to wear their helmets on their arms. And also, not those two policemen who preferred to be comfortable under the tree instead of fulfilling their duty. As for me, well, I will never compromise my own safety as well as the safety of the people along my way.