After learning about what happened to taxi driver Valerio Boybanting, one may understand and even appreciate the kind of problems public utility drivers face as they ply the city streets of Metro Cebu to earn a living.
The taxi driver landed in the hospital after his vehicle was accidentally hit by a sports utility vehicle, which crossed over to the opposite lane after crashing into standing concrete barrier. The SUV driven by Marcelo Tan hit the cabbie’s Ken Taxi unit at 11 p.m. on May 14 .
Tan was heading to Mandaue City while Boybanting had just come from the airport when the collision occurred.
Police investigators said Tan lost consciousness and was unable to stop his vehicle from crashing head-on with the taxi.
The SUV leaped across lanes and landed smack in front of the Cebu Daily News building.
What a bizarre accident. If the crash had happened just an hour or two earlier, the spot where the SUV landed was one where employees parked their motorbikes and milled around ready to knock off for the evening.
While Tan and Boybanting’s passenger Hazel Bartobalac underwent treatment, Boybanting had to scramble for money to pay for his mounting hospital bills.
Traffic investigators said the SUV driver was at fault for encroaching on the opposite lane.
Without street lights (these were ripped out with the center concrete island in ongoing road rehabilitation work) it’s difficult to see the road clearly at night, much less the concrete solo barrier standing like a lonely sawhorse in a boulevard.
The center island has been replaced with puny tires used as planters.
In his desire to add more lanes for cars to speed through, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama’s decision to remove the center islands and the trees altogether doesn’t contribute to road safety.
The center island separates traffic clearly, and prevents drivers from zigzagging down an empty boulevard like it was drag race zone.
Even with painted road lines, local drivers have a difficult time respecting lanes.
On a dark and rainy night and with no visible streetlights, the S. Osmeña Road can be a risky highway for speeding vehicles and tipsy drivers.
It’s easy to blame the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for not placing adequate road barriers on S. Osmeña Road at night as Rama had done on hearing of the incident.
Where are the reflectorized stripes? What’s a single, lonely concrete sawhorse doing in the middle of a national road?
The new design of S. Osmena Road, without center dividers or trees is a concession to speed and a heavier volume of vehicles.
However, this urban preference to accommodate more four-wheel vehicles should be balanced with care for public safety.
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