No Speed Limit on EDSA - No Problem?

October 21, 2008. A car was burning in EDSA. The driver of the car, a doctor, for some reason, can't escape. And to make matters worse, a bus, which was racing along with another, rammed into it. The doctor died because of burns and, as the medico legal results says, severe head injury. Aside from it, one of the buses collide at a bus dropping off a passenger, at all places, the middle of EDSA.

The bus driver of the "killer bus" surrendered to the police. He was interviewed and said that they cannot let their guard down against their kalaban. That's why they speed up to the nearest bus stop. As for the tragedy, he's resentful, but this would not change what happened.

In a congressional inquiry a month before the tragedy, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said that there was no speed limit in EDSA. Interviews quoting him after the tragedy said that the reason behind this is that the MMDA is still making changes along EDSA.

If you are sane, you don't accept these reasoning.

All kinds of speed demons are in EDSA. From jeepneys, cars, trucks, and buses. There was saying in Filipino: "Hindi pwede ang aanga-anga sa EDSA," means that you cannot survive EDSA if you're not tough and aggressive enough.

But to say that there's no speed limit at EDSA is too absurd and too irresponsible for the MMDA Chairman to say, at the very least. On the other hand, LTO said that there is such; 40kph for light vehicles (cars, jeepneys, vans) and 30kph for trucks and buses. But these was way back in the 1960s.

We have to put an appropriate and update speed limits, not only at EDSA, but to all major thoroughfares of Metro Manila, and the whole Philippines as well. We have to take action to stop these speed demons, before another killer bus (or any vehicle for that matter) take lives of many.

This also serves as a wake-up call to bus operators and all government officials involving roads. For bus operators, they should educate their bus drivers about road safety and prioritize the safety of their passengers and other road users before profit. And as for government officials, they should make road safety priority, before politicizing, early campaigning, and joining singing contests in national TV.