Scare tactics for jaywalkers

The ominous images couldn’t be more direct to warn pedestrians than a man laying dead, with the word “jaywalker” splashed across his body, and another climbing over a fence at a busy intersection.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has turned to these graphic warnings, hoping to discourage illegal crossing of streets, as its “no jaywalking” signs do not seem to be delivering the message across to the public.

“When we use visual graphics, people will have a better appreciation of what is wrong with jaywalking,” MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino told reporters Tuesday. “Before, we placed warnings like ‘Nakamamatay (Dangerous)’ or ‘May Namatay Na (Someone died before), but these have been ignored.”

Tolentino formally dispatched the MMDA’s “Men in Red” at the Edsa-Ortigas Avenue intersection as part of the agency’s campaign against jaywalkers.

Other teams were sent to jaywalking “hot spots,” such as Balintawak, Litex and Commonwealth Avenues in Quezon City, and Pasay Taft Rotunda.

Fine or crash course

As of noon Tuesday, 168 people were apprehended. They either paid the P200 fine or underwent a 15-minute crash course on disaster preparedness.

Senior citizens and minors are exempted from paying the fine, but “they will still be reminded of the jaywalking policy because we don’t want them to be put in danger,” Tolentino said.

The MMDA chief ordered the placement of the graphic warnings, but said he refrained from going into very detailed  images as those from actual incidents may disturb the public’s sensibilities.

He showed to reporters two pictures taken by the MMDA recording scenes of accidents involving pedestrians hit by large vehicles. In one image, he said, the victim was squashed by a 10-wheel truck along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

At least 15 pedestrian-related road accidents are reported every day to the MMDA. Last year, 5,348 such events were recorded, with 174 fatalities.

Tolentino said he even talked with some of the offenders who were caught Tuesday and tried to reason their way out of paying the fine.

Dealing with offenders

One burly man was overheard pleading with an MMDA enforcer as he was led to the MMDA chair: “I have a job interview that I need to get to right now.”

The man asked if he could be let off with a warning, but Tolentino replied, “Do you want this to happen to you?” and showed the gory picture that seemed to have shocked the offender.

“We can’t eradicate jaywalking completely because people will have their reasons like they were in a hurry,” Tolentino said.

“If we could lessen the pedestrian-related road accidents by 15 percent, we would have achieved our goals,” he added.