Frequent freak accidents
Jennifer Martillan, 22, was too young to die. But die she did after a 10-wheeler truck lost its brakes slammed into her while she breast-fed John Clark, her three-month-old son in their roadside house in Barili town, southwestern Cebu.
Jennifer threw the baby boy out of harm’s way just in time but could not save herself.
The accident claimed an even younger life. Anderson Jason Vergara, 11, was pinned down by the truck’s front axle.
The truck belongs to JAK Logistics Transport. The driver, Adonis Quiñanola said he chose to crash into a multicab in the hope of stopping his truck instead of hitting people on the road.
Obviously, he underestimated the momentum of his speeding vehicle, which not only damaged a house but killed two persons and injured another 15.
We expect our reactionary transportation authorities to slap the trucking firm’s collection of vehicles with the usual ban from the streets.
As with the trucks, buses and other motor vehicles that killed people in the past, any suspension will only serve as a rather inutile afterthought.
It will not bring back the dead.
Quiñanola and his assistants will face charges in court.
The case against them will not console the friends and kin of those who died.
Must we take precautions against future freak accidents only when a present one maims people and lays human corpses at our feet?
More than 20 persons were hurt when a barangay Basak Pardo bus fell into a ravine in barangay Quiot, Cebu City in Aug. 21.
A midwife lost her life and 10 persons were injured when a Ceres bus crashed in barangay Argao town, Cebu in Aug. 26.
Assuming that the truck in the most recent accident was properly checked before it was used, what was the driver supposed to do after the vehicle lost its brakes?
Do the authorities have guidelines on how to steer wayward vehicles?
Let us snap back to reality: How often are transport offices or businesses required to check the roadworthiness of their vehicles? Is there a standard test to check the skills of applicant drivers?
The saddest commentary on our transport system is that it features too many “freak accidents,” the term has become a misnomer.
