Motorcyclists are 26 times more likely to die in a traffic crash, compared to car passengers, according to the 2012 US National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
The Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways Summary of Accident 2011 report shows that the main cause of accident in the National Capital Region was human error. Of the 8,360 accidents recorded that year, 561 were due to human error. Other causes of accidents were vehicular defects, which represented 27 out of 599 and road defects, which accounted for six out of 161.
About seven of 1,058 were due to alcohol and drug accidents. The Philippine National Police reported there were 4,229 motorcycle accidents of the 11,285 motor vehicle accidents in the first half of 2015. This means that motorcycle accidents represented 37 percent of the total vehicle accidents during the period.
Increasing motorcycle sales
Despite these shocking numbers in motorcycle accidents, there have been consistent positive sales of motorcycles since 2012 in the Philippines, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Automotive Federation. Increase in yearly sales volume ranged from 5 percent to 8 percent, with 702,599 units sold in 2012 and 850,509 units sold in 2015. Although a total of 3.1 million motorcycle units were sold in the Philippines during these years, this was less than Indonesia’s 29.5 million unit sales and Thailand’s 7.5 million units, the Philippines ranked third in Asean in terms of sales volume, ahead of Malaysia (1.9 million units) and Singapore (104,277 units).
Data from the Philippine Land and Transportation Office show that there was an average of 1.1 million new motorcycles and tricycles registered per year from 2011 to 2013. The average motorcycle and tricycle-recorded renewals during these years were 3 million units, summing to about 4 million average registrations. Additionally, on average, compared to other types of vehicles, motorcycles and tricycles registration is the highest at 28 percent, together with trailers also at 28 percent, then utility vehicles at 18 percent, sports utility vehicles at 14 percent, trucks at 5 percent, and buses at 3 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority data show that on average, privately owned motorcycles and tricycles accounted for 81 percent of the total number from 2007 to 2012, while 19 percent were for hire, and only 1 percent was government-owned.
Could it be possible that increasing sales is associated to employment?
Motorcycle employment
Motorcycle messengers have been around since the early 1900s. Their work has contributed to business expediency in booming and highly populated cities like Metro Manila. Motorcycle messengers help businesses send and receive small deliveries on schedule.
In the Philippines, the average salary of a motorcycle messenger ranges from P15,000 to P20,000 a month. Some companies that hire messengers may require messenger to own their motorcycles.
Timely pick-up and delivery of packages is the work of messengers. Thus, the work of a motorcycle messenger requires agility and speed. Rain or shine, motorcycle messengers brave the streets of Metro Manila. Even if they are wearing their helmets, the streets they daringly maneuver remain risky.
Unsafe driving behavior
However, it is truly unspeakable that there are motorcycle messengers who do not follow traffic laws and ignore safety conducts. They race their bikes in-between vehicles as if they are in alleys, putting drivers off-guard because they carelessly pass other vehicles on the right or left rapidly and suddenly. For some reason, they are not mindful of the high probability of crushing their legs when they fearlessly squeeze into narrow spaces in-between vehicles speedily.
In other situations, motorcycle messengers position themselves in front of queued vehicles at a stop light. Even before the light turns green, motorcycles messengers have already zoomed across the intersection. They risk their lives without thinking that in a split second, a crossing vehicle that has the right-of-way can smash into them. There are times when a motorcycle messengers would run three or more red traffic signals, always in urgency to get to their destination. They will have no wasted movement as they fluidly and without fear, go for the run through the congested traffic.
Creating a safety culture
Therefore, given that driving motorcycles leads to one’s employability, and that there is great risk of accidents and potential harm for motorcyclists, businesses can create a culture of safety in their companies. According to Adam Gorny, a safety culture in an organization is important for occupational safety. He argued that if being bad and immoral incurs losses, any losses due to undesirable safety culture, would also equate to being bad and immoral. A socially responsible business would make sure to define principles and guidelines in its operations that encourages and establishes safety.
Thus, only a solid dedication to safety measures will avoid dangerous behaviors. Human resource management is key to establishing a safety culture in the company. By educating motorcyclists to become responsible drivers, businesses fulfill their social responsibility. By ensuring safety in our streets and workplaces, businesses gain profit as their messengers go about their duties without harming society and themselves.
Ana Liza “Pinky” Asis-Castro teaches corporate social responsibility and corporate governance at the Management and Organization Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. She is also enrolled in the DBA Program. She is a professional real estate broker with over 25 years of practice. She can be reached at ana.liza.asiscastro@gmail.com.
The views expressed above are the author’s and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the De La Salle University, its administration and faculty.