NewsRecord Weekly Publication

Friendly Observer

By Arthur Keefe

Pedestrian safety matters?

                Well of course it matters, but to whom? The following observations are based on San Carlos, but could be applied equally almost anywhere in the Philippines.

                There are two essential conditions for pedestrian safety. There must be clear, well-maintained pavements or sidewalks and provision must be made for people to safely cross the road. Two factors which are so self-evident they hardly need stating, but largely absent here.

                Firstly, the pavement. Some years ago, I was pleased when the City Council started creating pavements in many of the residential areas. However, the water company seemed to think those were for their benefit and started putting meters across them, forcing people into the road. VRESCO replaced many old wooden poles with new metal ones, but placed them and their retaining cables on the pavements, again forcing people into the road.

                Many householders, perhaps following the public utilities, began to colonize the pavements with flower pots, bushes, and often piles of sand and gravel while construction takes place.

                Shopkeepers, not to be outdone, saw this as an opportunity to extend their frontage, sometimes just placing their stock on the pavement, but sometimes even  putting structures up.

                Finally, especially in the central area, some people assume that pavement are simply free motorcycle or car parks and completely block the pavement, often for the whole day, as does the grey Honda by PNB which I am told is owned by the manager of BPI.

                Readers will recognize all of this from their daily experience.

                What is less clear is why this is allowed to continue day in and day out.

Why is the water department not told to locate its meters inside the boundary of the consumer as happens everywhere else?

                Why does VRESCO not locate its poles on private land away from the road or pavement?

                Why do the traffic enforcers fail to stop illegal pavement parking, even when drawn to their attention?

                The consequence is that most people walk in the road most of the time! They have no choice. Perhaps the worst example of official indifference is the long stretch on Ledesma Avenue between the old rail line and Ramon Magsaysay Elementary School. This is the busiest road in the city. It is wide with plenty of room for a pavement, but none has been created. Children and adults walk in large numbers in this busy road every day. They have no choice!

                I was told by the engineering department some years ago that a pavement was part of the city plan. Why has this not been done?

                Crossing the road is particularly hazardous. The faint crossings painted on the road serve no purpose. When I first arrived here, I would stop my car to let people cross. I then realized this created a greater danger as nobody else stopped and instead they saw it as an opportunity to overtake me, jeopardizing the safety of those crossing the road.

                The selfishness of motorists is endemic here and it's as if "Might is right" (Bismark)                is the only rule of the road.

                I began by asking to whom pedestrian safety matters. It should matter to us all. Even the better-off will step out of their SUV to walk a short distance, but, of course, most of those walking are the poor, the elderly, and the children who have no transport.

                My child, your child, your older relatives are also at risk.

                In every factor mentioned, the responsibility for resolving the problems lies with the City Council, the Mayor and his officers.

                Most of these issues are not matters requiring big budgets. Using casual posts currently under utilized in many departments would be a nil cost option, as much is about enforcement. Traffic enforcers ticketing pavement parkers would give those staff, who seem to spend the day in social groups on street corners, something useful to do, as would reprimanding those driving at people on crossings.

                Creating new pavements on busy roads would cost money, but that is a question of priority within the concreting program.

                Insisting shopkeepers do not colonize the pavement…etc.

                All easily done, all about effective City governance, not big budget issues.

                In the end, it is about political will and efficient government administration, which is respect of pedestrian safety, and is largely absent.

                If pavements are to segregate people and traffic (their real purpose) and not just beautify the subdivisions and pedestrian crossings, signify priority for pedestrians (as they should), then there needs to be a cultural change in the behavior of people, which needs to be led by the city fathers.