MAKING MOTORING FUN

by Gus Lagman
AAP President

Giving road safety the attention it deserves

Upon the invitation of the FIA Foundation, I attended the International Conference on Safety and Mobility of Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians, Motorcyclists, and Bicyclists that was held in Jerusalem, Israel from May 30 to June 2, 2010. The three other national auto club presidents whose participation was sponsored by the Foundation were from India, Uganda, and Colombia.

Nearly 300 participants from different countries listened to more than 100 simultaneous presentations during the two and a half days of the conference. The Jerusalem event was held to gather the latest scientific information, best practices and policies from different countries that address the increasing involvement of vulnerable road users in road traffic related injuries. Naturally, I have brought home with me many valuable pieces of information and statistics that AAP can analyze and use to guide it in its road safety initiatives.

But apart from the enlightening presentations and discussions, one thing that immediately caught my attention was the title of the first keynote speaker from Israel – the Minister of Transport and Road Safety.

I later found out that Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety (MOT) has almost the same objectives as its Philippine counterpart, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), except for one notable difference --- the MOT and the Ministry of Communications in Israel are two different government entities.

Under Executive Order No. 125, Reorganizing the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, out of the seven objectives of the DOTC only three are transportation-related and these include: 1) “promote the development of dependable and coordinated networks of transportation and communication systems; 2) guide government and private investment in the development of the country's inter- model transportation and communication systems in a most practical, expeditious, and orderly fashion for maximum safety, service, and cost effectiveness; and 3) impose appropriate measures so that technical, economic and other conditions for the continuing economic viability of the transportation and communication entities are not jeopardized and do not encourage inefficiency and distortion of traffic patronage.”

In 1996, DOTC headed the now defunct National Road Safety Council which was later replaced by the Road Safety Steering Committee (RSSC) that aims to create policies, plans and programs for the improvement of road safety and to lessen significantly the number and severity of road traffic accidents nationwide. In addition, five Road Safety Management Teams were created to oversee the initiatives in the Revised Philippine Road Safety Action Plan (RPRSAP). In fact, the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) is a member of four Road Safety Management Teams namely, Safety Management, Safety System, Safer Vehicles and Safer Roads.

While the DOTC is truly exerting efforts to promote road safety, I believe that it can do much more if road safety were to become institutionalized as part of DOTC’s functions, with its own separate budget. Moreover, there have already been moves to separate the communication function of the DOTC to make way for the creation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), which at the present time remains to be a Commission pending the enactment of an enabling law.

Because of the rapid development of technology, transportation and communication both encompass much broader and more diversified scopes now compared to years ago. For that reason, it would be best to have two distinct departments that will focus on transportation and transport safety (to include air and sea transportation), on the one hand, and information and communication technology, on the other.

I hope that the new administration would seriously consider having a government agency solely dedicated to transportation and road safety. The time is ripe to give road safety the attention it rightfully deserves, in order to achieve a safer and more enjoyable motoring experience for all of us all the time.