It’s a sad fact of life: a motorist can head out on a weekend drive with family and return home with a heavy heart—after figuring in a road accident that leaves someone injured, or worse, dead. Why does this happen? Because road safety awareness has taken a back seat.

For a time, I thought awareness had waned simply because there were fewer vehicles on the road. When fuel prices surged after the conflict in the Middle East, mobility dropped and traffic thinned. Fewer vehicles, fewer accidents—at least on the surface.

But reduced mobility is not a substitute for vigilance. When the numbers are fully tallied, they may show fewer accidents in certain months, much like during the pandemic lockdowns. Still, high fuel prices are not a solution to road safety, nor do they guarantee smoother traffic or safer travel.

As summer draws more people onto the roads—despite fuel costs—there is a renewed urgency to bring road safety back to the forefront of public consciousness.

This need is especially evident along the Marilaque Highway, the scenic route connecting Marikina to Rizal and Quezon. Recently, I witnessed a deeply troubling pattern: motorcycle riders repeatedly violating basic traffic rules that should be universally understood. Along sharp, winding stretches, many overtook vehicles across double yellow lines—where overtaking is strictly prohibited—even with oncoming traffic clearly visible.

Each reckless maneuver put not only the rider at risk, but also innocent drivers who could suddenly find themselves in unavoidable, life-altering collisions—facing financial burdens, emotional trauma, and lifelong regret.

What was more alarming was how common these violations were. They weren’t isolated incidents; they happened repeatedly, forcing all vehicles to slow down. The experience was so distressing that I missed my turn and drove nearly 10 kilometers past my destination, shaken by what I had seen.

Conscience seemed absent among those riders speeding through the zigzag highway, ignoring both the law and basic common sense.

This troubling state of road safety awareness must be addressed. A few mandatory lectures for violators will not be enough. What is needed is a sustained, collective effort—from both government and the private sector—to embed road safety into the mindset of every citizen: drivers, passengers, commuters, and pedestrians alike.

May is National Road Safety Month in the Philippines, and a National Road Safety Summit is scheduled at the end of the month. Stakeholders will review initiatives under the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan 2023–2028, aligned with the global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

These discussions must go beyond policy papers. Stronger enforcement of traffic laws—especially along high-risk routes like Marilaque—must be prioritized. If policymakers want a clear picture of the problem, they need only to drive through Marilaque on a weekend.

There, they will see not only reckless motorcycle riders on joyrides, but also personal electric vehicles—meant for village roads—occupying highways and slowing traffic to a crawl. Many of these drivers seem unaware of a basic rule: slower vehicles should keep to the outer lane to allow faster traffic to pass. Even heavily loaded truck drivers understand and follow this principle.

Meanwhile, I await updated reports on traffic accidents along Marilaque. It will be telling to compare the involvement of two-wheel and four-wheel vehicles.

According to the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan 2023–2028, motorcycles make up 62 percent of registered vehicles. They are also the most common vehicles involved in crashes: in Metro Manila in 2021, motorcycles accounted for 48 percent of road crash fatalities and 52 percent of injuries.

Those figures are already alarming—but they are also dated. It will be important to see what the latest data reveal. (Email: [email protected])