Who to follow? The enforcer or the traffic lights?

[gertrude]

good morning to all tsikoteers, i just wanna justify my actions made today. i just wanna know from you guys if im an a-hole or not for what i did.

kaninang umaga, around 7:30am i was driving along ortigas ave from santolan going to ortigas center. the traffic lights just turned red in the corner of madison st & ortigas ave in san juan. ako yung nasa unahan nung nag-stop na. so then, this mmda traffic enforcer was assisting the traffic flow in that area. he's waving for the cars coming out from madison & xavier st. after that, traffic lights turned green so umabante na kami when the enforcer stopped all of us and gave priority to the vehicles coming out of madison & xavier.

everyone was honking kase nga green lights na. we were waiting for approx.10 minutes na and nag-rotate na yung lights at go na kami ulit but hes priority was those cars coming out from xavier. after waving "stop" to the vehicles coming from madison & xavier. he then wave "go" on the opposite direction of madison w/c i think that was greenhills east subd. (correct me if im wrong). we then wait na naman for so long & everyone was honking loud na and probably angry. tapos nung maubos na yung mga kotseng lumalabas sa subdivision na yun. pina-abante naman nya yung mga kotse naman na turning left to madison from ortigas. eh sobrang inip ko na and that was already 7:48 na, male-late na ko, and green na kami ulit so umarangkada na ko disregarding hes signal and everyone else followed also. umabante na din sila maybe dahil sa buwisit sa enforcer na yun. then on my side mirror i saw him pointing at me.

sorry my enforcer, sana maunawaan mo din na male-late din kami. and you can just shut off those traffic lights if you prefer hand signal para hindi confusing sa mga motoristang katulad ko.

what can you say guys? tama ba ginawa ko or mali?

[AnK]

I think you're wrong for not following the traffic enforcer.

isa yan ang kulang sa mga pinoy drivers, discipline and respect for authorities.

[Type 100]

The traffic enforcers take precedence over the traffic lights. I attended an MMDA defensive driving seminar and this is what they said. And I get their point.

You have to understand, the traffic lights are essentially "robots" - there are limits to their programming and they cannot compensate for circumstances where traffic gets unruly.

Say what you will about the ineptitude of the traffic enforcers we get here but the thing is they have precedence over the red-yellow-green. Sorry that's just the way it is.

[ess]

Yeah, you have to keep a keen eye for those traffic enforcers and make sure to follow them when they decide to override the traffic lights.

ANG nakakainis lang is -- sometimes the traffic lights are more visible than they are. If they'll be taking over, I wish they'd disable the traffic lights first before moving in. That way, the attention of the drivers will be 100% focused on them.

[niwde11]

hehe bat ako dati pinatakbo ng traffic enforcer sa stop light(red kami). actually e inabutan lang ako ng red kaya stop ako pero pinatatakbo kami lahat kasi me darating yata na VIP. tapos few meters from the stop light e pinara ko ng MMDA TE. sabi red light daw bat tumuloy, sabi ko pina GO ako nung kasama nya. alam mo sagot, sinong kasama raw nya(maangas pa sya ha). nakikipagtalo ako ng me huminto kasunod ko na kotse sa likod at sinabing pinatatakbo nga raw lahat kami sa directions namin. maangas din pa ring sumagot na "walang problema sir, takbo na". sa traffic light ito ng Marulas in fron of San Miguel Brewery going north.

[jjmd3_787]

Syempre, arangkada na pag sinenyasan ka na ng enforcer na mag-GO kahit RED pa na ang ilaw. Advantage nga yun e kasi mapapadali ang byahe mo. Pero always proceed with CAUTION kasi baka hindi napansin ng mga sasakyan na naka-GREEN lite ang pagpapalusot ng enforcer sa inyo e magkabangaan pa kayo.

[coiter]

ANG nakakainis lang is -- sometimes the traffic lights are more visible than they are. If they'll be taking over, I wish they'd disable the traffic lights first before moving in. That way, the attention of the drivers will be 100% focused on them.

true. what's worse is kung ikaw ang nasa harap at hindi kita ng nasa likod na may enforcer, ikaw mapagbubuhasan ng galit. pag nag-go na, they'll overtake you and give you a mean look or minsan mumurahin ka pa.

anyway, back to topic, tama sabi nila na the traffic enforcer has the authority to take control if the situation warrants. hayaan mo na lang bumusina yung sa likod mo kesa naman pilitin mo at hulihin ka or worse mabangga ka ng mga tumatawid. wala kang laban dun.

[CVT]

Malimit ding mangyari iyan dito sa intersection ng Coastal Road/Roxas Blvd and Airport Road.

Ang mga gungg*ng na traffic enforcers,- ino-override ang sequence ng traffic lights kaya nagkakaroon ng overload sa traffic sa mga katabing intersections like Airport Road and Old National Highway at Airport Road and Macapagal Avenue....Gridlock ang mga intersections na ito.... Hindi ito nakikita at nauunawaan ng mga ito.... Hay naku,- kaya nga naka-design ang timing and sequence ng traffic lights para hindi magbara ang mga nearby intersections,- pinapakialaman naman ng mga magagaling na ito....

Anyway,- IMO, kung gusto nilang i-override ang traffic light, and they're the authority on this- patayin na lang nila... Sobrang asar naman kasi na alam mong naghintay ka na for your turn and yet green ka na,- hindi ka naman maka-"go" at panay ang busina ng nasa likod mo na hindi nakikita ang sitwasyon sa unahan... Also, they need to be EDUCATED sa mga repercussions ng kanilang mga decisions. Hindi iyong barabara bay na lang...

9404:vader:

[Idoy]

Gertrude,

You are wrong in all accounts. Respect the traffic enforcer. I've been stuck sa traffic for an hour and longer and I never blamed them.

It's just one of those days. I just tune to my mp3s or talk to my friend.

May isang incident, EDSA and Taft crossing. Nag red light. So I stopped. Eh naka nguso na ang kotse ko. To my right, MMDA 1 waved me to go. To my left, MMDA 2 waved me to stop. I went straight instead.

Pinara ako ng MMDA 2 at pinatatabi ako. Di ako tumabi kasi daming nakasunod sa likod ko.

Binababa ko ang window while driving slowly and said, "Teka ang gulo niyo, sino ba susundin ko sa inyong dalawa?".

Kamot ulo siya. And he let me go off.