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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Distractions

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LAND transportation officials have come up with strict implementing guidelines on “distractions” to safe driving.  The devil is, as always, on the details.

A firestorm of protest has been raised even by the priests and monsignori of the Roman Catholic Church.  Why forbid rosaries slung from the rear view mirrors of public conveyances?  Or statuettes of the Blessed Mother, or the Santo Niño, or whatever else santo y padron of the jeepney or taxi driver?

Simply because they “distract.”  So says the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. And because they distract, they cause mishaps on the road.

Ditto for mobile phone and i-pad holders, and other such gadgets which have become stock-in-trade of taxi, Uber, Grab or whatever else congest the streets of the metropolis. If there is a selfie stick for tourists and Facebook-posting addicts, there must be a dashboard-applicable holder for cellphones.

But most certainly, using a cellphone while driving is a no-no. Especially writing short messages or texting while behind the wheel.

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Late-model cars have TV monitors even for front-seat passengers, drivers most obviously included.  That too is a distraction.  But then public conveyances normally do not have such optional gadgets, until Uber came into the transport picture.

In the wilting summer temperatures, would ladies wearing short shorts and flimsy blouses not constitute distraction to every “sweet lover” driver as well?

But here’s a distraction to safe driving, whether by a private or public conveyance that I do not for the life of me understand how and why government authorities allow and do not regulate the same: Billboards.

Thousands of them clutter every inch of space in Edsa, the most densely vehicle-populated avenue in the universe. 

Of course, if you are stuck in interminable gridlock, ogling at a pretty face or an even prettier figure splashed on a poly-vinyl tarpaulin keeps your temper from boiling and keeps you from cursing the woe-begotten traffic situation.

But whether you are cruising on Edsa or riding fast-clip in the SLEX or NLEX, these billboards or outdoor advertisements can really be distracting, if not destructive as well.  Destructive of road aesthetic; destructive of human life.

And now, authorities have even allowed electronic billboard advertisements which magnifies by a hundred-fold the distraction caused by the TV monitor in your car. 

Who is supposed to regulate these?  The local governments? The MMDA? There is also a Public Safety agency attached to the DILG, if I am not mistaken.    

Removing these unsightly distractions was once the target of a campaign by a pro-active MMDA Chairman, Bayani Fernando, one of my favorite government officials.  But the outdoor advertising industry complained and trotted out the number of employees who would find themselves out of work if these huge advertising media were to be removed.  And through the years, they have not only proliferated; they have become clear and present dangers to safe driving.

Because it was “politically” unwise to let go of displaced-to-be-workers, government just shut its eyes.  Now they have come back with a vengeance, as in anywhere and everywhere.

Distraction on the dashboard and inside the vehicle must be the same as distraction outside, on un-regulated roadsides as well.  Sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander, right?

***

Donald the Trump is in for a major, major distraction from his America First and America Only crusade.

Major, major because it just might lead to his impeachment as POTUS.  The storm clouds are gathering, and getting darker and darker.

Even his fellow Republicans are nervous, and his West End staff are in near panic. 

While President Duterte is saved from the vexations of a distraction in the form of another impeachment complaint by whoever, and is now off to Russia un-distracted, President Trump is hexed with a distraction of his own making over Russia as well.

Is this Watergate renamed Russia-gate? Abangan

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