Quote Originally Posted by trackers888 View Post
See Boss RafRaf! nasa lugar ka na ng mga college graduate nyan! Hindi lang naman yan nangyayari sa lugar natin, kahit dito sa lugar ko ngayon, dami bwisit na di alalm kung saang planeta galing kung mag drive!
It all has to do with proxemics - how we perceive, define and use our space. As a rule, we Filipinos tend to define space by the physical boundaries that surround it. E.g., in some culture, it is perfectly acceptable to have bathrooms (inside bedrooms) without doors. The demarcation is merely implied. Local implementation of this is generally unacceptable even when privacy is effective. We still need to put an actual physical door that "says" this is the start of the bathroom.

Applying the same principle to local traffic, car lanes are not defined by the lane markings on the surface of the street but by actual physical objects - fences, sidewalks, and cars, regardless of whether these are moving or not. Thus, an adequate space between two cars stopped at an intersection is perceived as a lane that a driver can squeeze his car into, never mind if his car ends up traversing two lanes.

This is also the reason why local drivers maneuver the way they do. Classic case in point: we have a lot of streets where a left turn lane exists but a no left turn law has been implemented. Thus in principle, cars therefore are not supposed to occupy that lane. But drivers still do, and when the light goes green, they veer right to get into the adjacent lane in order to proceed straight. Now if the driver of the car to the right has no international driving experience, his naturally tendency will be to veer right as well. Why? Because the object that defines his lane - the car to his left - is moving towards him. So he veers to his right as well, allowing the offending car to move in and go straight. Unfortunately this typical reaction thus encourages such rude behavior.

It is the same thing principle with counter-flowing. If there is no dividing island and there are no oncoming cars, a lot of drivers perceive the open space as an available lane. But notice how counter-flowing cars generally try to cut back in once they see an oncoming car. That is because the perceived boundary – the oncoming car – is closing in. Notice how very few cars (even those with escorts) go counter-flow in streets divided by center islands.

MMDA Chair Fernando had the right idea about the controversial U-turns. The problem lies in the execution. He should have put in more physical concrete barriers (serving as boundaries) that prevent the cars from immediately cutting across the lanes after making the U-turn. The barriers would physically force the cars to go straight and merge into traffic.

He also had the right approach re the pink fences. But implementation was again half-done. If he had ensured that pedestrians can not board PUVs anywhere else except in designated areas then the PUVs will have no choice but to follow the restrictions.