I may be a little late in congratulating you for canceling the franchise of Don Mariano bus lines after that horrific avoidable accident that left 23 people dead, but you know what they say, better late than later, and I have to say that that took balls big enough to mount those bald tires on. So kudos to you, Atty. Ginez.
But as happy as we all are, the main reason for this letter is to up the pressure on all the bus companies to start taking safety seriously and finally introduce mandatory electronic speed limiters on all our busses and trucks on the road. No speed limiter, no franchise, no exceptions.
I know you are aware of the petition that I started a month ago because you were kind enough to retweet me. But grateful as I am, I need more than a retweet, sir. I need we need action. The same kind of action that you took when you revoked the franchise.
Think about it. If we can do something as ridiculous as banning the sale of hammers in malls because of safety, what possible reason could there be to not fast track the implementation of speed limiters on busses? How many people have lost their lives to the martilyo gang? Now how many have been lost to speeding busses?
Forgive me if I sound naive; I know I may not be aware of all the facts, but I cannot see a valid argument in the delay of the implementation. In fact, the mere resistance from bus companies alone should already be seen as a sign of guilt and/or malicious intent. Simply put, there’s no reason for busses and trucks to speed.
Opposing the speed limiters would be like opposing a blood alcohol limit for drivers. Hang on, bad example; that’s already been done almost a year after signing the drunk driving act into law, we are yet to see any implementing rules and regulations approved. But I digress.
I know the bus companies may argue that most of their busses do not have computer boxes, and upgrading to one so that an electronic speed limiter can be fitted would be very expensive. To that I say: Great. Two birds with one stone. They shouldn’t be running dinosaurs on our roads to begin with. Do we not already have a minimum standard and age for busses?
Basically, the idea here is simple. Install a speed limiter and a GPS tracker on each bus and truck. The device would cut the fuel air mixture at a certain speed and render the accelerator useless, meaning that you cannot physically go any faster no matter what you do.
If, however, in the case where a company tamper with the limiter, the GPS tracker would resister the breach in speed and automatically send out up to ten SMS messages automatically to numbers of your choice. Nine numbers can be assigned to government agencies like your own, as well as the MMDA, LTO, PNP etc, while one number could be directly sent to a public website so that we can all see who is tampering or speeding.
This system is already in use in many fleets and limits corruption because it removes the human element and therefore the temptation. Also, by involving too many agencies as well as the public it no longer becomes cost effective to try and bribe your way out.
It may sound over simplistic, but usually the best ideas are. So I send this plea to you today because I know you are capable of making change. And so do almost 13,000 other people who signed the petition on my website www.jamesdeakin.ph
We ask you to kindly hear our voices and create a legacy for yourself that could save hundreds if not thousands of lives over time. This is your chance, sir. I plead with you because if nothing is done, the next accident is no longer the driver's fault but the the fault of the people who grant them the license to operate without these safeguards.
We’ve tried enforcement; we’ve tried punishment. But it will never work while there remains incentive. So it is time to cage them with technology.
Sign if you agree.
*as appeared in the Philippine STAR
