Jaywalking: The Ugly truth

A lot of things may happen a day: an average of 4,775 babies will be born here in our country; you can spend 171 minutes by just using your smartphone; and some people may possibly meet an accident, or almost an accident because of jaywalking.

Nothing can stop an average pedestrian from crossing the road in the Philippines, and that includes Davao City. Warning signs, fences, and overpasses will not help. People will always look for ways just to get to the other side of the road whether the police officers are around or not – they will not be placed in jail, anyway.

There are 15 overpasses in the city that are meant to allow pedestrians cross safely to the other side of the road without being hit by reckless drivers. But not all pedestrian overpasses serve their main purposeand the government needs to consider the senior citizens, pregnant, and people with disabilities (PWDs) who cannot use the stairs – that is why the government provided pedestrian lanes on the every corner of the main roads, and on other public places.

Sadly speaking, the lawmakers here in Davao have made an ordinance about it, but it has not been implemented properly yet. It is the Ordinance No. 778 or the “Anti-Jaywalking Law” which can penalize the pedestrians who violates to cross on the designated pedestrian lanes or overpasses.

The common reasons for jaywalking are ignorance of the law, some people cannot wait for the signal to cross the road or lazy use the overpass, and the pedestrian lanes are not clearly painted on the road.

“Basta hawan ang dalan og walay mamadlong na pulis, pwede na mimanabok (We are free to cross the road as long as there are no incoming car and no police officer around to reprimand),” saidCristina Manlanat, a housewife. “Sabagay, wala may balaod about ana (There are no laws about it [Anti-Jaywalking Law] anyway),” she added.

“The vendors are constricting the way there and it is tiring to go up and down the overpass,” said Joan Rosales, a college student. She also added that the officials must provide an obvious pedestrian lane for the other people who cannot use overpass.

The main purpose of the pedestrian lanes and overpasses is to allow the people to cross safely. But the bottom line is that they lack proper maintenance from the government and the jaywalkers need to be disciplined.