In 2021, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) recorded more than 26,000 motorcycle-related accidents in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone.

We often hear road safety experts say that vehicular accidents are mainly caused by ignorance of traffic rules and safety practices. True, but how do solve this alarming problem? Surely, a few hours of pre-licensure seminar won’t cut it.

And what about pedestrians? They are road users too, but which seminar are they supposed to attend?

The root cause

Obviously, all road users, car drivers, motorcycle riders, cyclists, and pedestrians, are not working on the same page. Hence the chaos that we experience out there daily. We don’t speak the same language. Here’s what I mean.

A motorcycle rider who has never driven a car in his life will not understand that a car driver, because of the “cage” around him, has blind spots. As such,  a rider would stay hidden within those blind spots when sharing the road with a car because he doesn’t know better.

On the other hand, a car driver who has never ridden a motorcycle won’t know that bikes have less traction than cars and not all are equipped with ABS. So instead of yielding, he will try to beat the motorcycle on the opposite lane to make a left turn.

Solving a lingering problem

Not everyone will have the privilege of driving experience on two and four wheels. Some will never drive a vehicle in their lifetime. Yet, all will be road users.

So to ensure that we all “speak the same language” on the road, it would help to include the subject of Road Safety in the school curriculum.

Grade schoolers should first learn how to become safe pedestrians, then senior high students should learn how to drive vehicles (two wheels and four wheels) properly before going out into the world.

Hey, during my time we had carpentry and typing (insert Lord Elrond meme here). Driving is also an equally important life skill, wouldn’t you say?

Until this happens, we remain like those biblical Babylonians who tried to build a tower that was supposed to reach the heavens.

The good news is, the Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA), an organization composed of motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, is currently working with the Department of Education (DepEd) on including road safety in children’s text books. This is in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030) campaign.

I recall attending the launch of the previous Decade of Action (2011-2020) campaign (insert Lord Elrond meme again here), and quite frankly, I didn’t see much action in the past ten years, locally, at least.

Maybe this decade will be different, with Michelle Yeoh winning an Oscar and all.