In countries that value safe travel, timed Bus Stops control speeding. These city timed bus stops eliminate Philippine-style head-on collisions. City bus stops are a few blocks apart, an 8-minute walk from stop to stop. All buses are scheduled and staggered. For instance, the East to West route: Bus 1 leaves East Terminal at 5 a.m. Bus 2 leaves at 5:30. Bus 3 leaves at 6. Bus 1 is scheduled to arrive at Bus Stop A at 5:10; at Bus Stop B at 5:20; at Bus Stop C at 5:30. The bus driver must go on a consistent pace. He must not get to the next bus stop before the schedule.

If Bus 1 runs too fast and arrives at Bus Stop A at 5:07 instead of 5:10, the driver will have to pause, motor off, stay until 5:10, waiting for the 5:10 passengers. If he leaves at 5:09, I arrive at the Bus Stop A at 5:10, and he is driving away, I can report the driver to his boss. Driver will be in trouble because he did not follow the schedule. All passengers are confident that the bus they need will be there at the exact (radio) time. Passengers know what time to be at their bus stop. This is how it works in other countries. Timed bus stops can also work for provincial buses.

Countries that respect road rules have a well-managed transport system and less stressed drivers. Is the income of the driver/operator affected? No, they get the same income, same number of riders. Drivers won’t need to take shabu under this system because they are less stressed.

Jeepneys are not racing down highways. Jeepneys run the slow lanes and side streets; are seldom involved in multi-death head-on collisions. It’s the buses that are in the front pages with busloads of people dead.

Long hours behind the wheel is also blamed by DOH. The average person can drive only six hours straight before fatigue affects driving. The DOH said lack of sleep and proper nutrition affects a driver’s reflexes and judgment of road conditions. A number of them take shabu or other drugs to stay awake and ward off fatigue during long drives.

Road accidents are the fourth highest killers, and the causes, according to DOH: 1) Poor road engineering; 2) Ignorance of traffic rules; 3) Lack of road discipline. I add a 4th: Passengers who are too shy to protect their lives (my column of Nov. 7).

Ferries and motorized boats: Overloaded MB Dexter capsized off Masbate drowning 100; MV Princess of the Stars sank in Romblon, drowning 700.

The riding public will just have to learn to confront the skipper, the in-charge of the boat, look him in the eye and announce: We won’t board until you line us up and show how many of us can get on according to that Maximum Load sign. We are not riding unless you show us your life vests (life boats for ships). I suspect Filipinos, raised to be shy, won’t be able to say this.

If the riding public don’t care to look after their own and others’ safety, should the government and the vehicle owners care? If the passengers don’t care about the overloaded boat, then maybe they have this death wish, and it’s their own lookout

Rep. Eduardo Gullas calling on the authorities for neglect of land and water passenger safety: "We rely mainly on inter-island sea travel to move people and commodities. Yet, we cannot provide adequate ship and passenger safety. The Coast Guard should be increased to at least 25,000 over the next five years…."