James Deakin: Have you been a victim of "Tyranny of the Weak"

The following was taken from Philippine Star:

Philstar.com | Latest Philippine news and multimedia

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Tyranny of the Weak
BACKSEAT DRIVER By James Deakin
Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Picture this. You are 24 years old and are about to take delivery of your first ever brand new car. You have saved up for more than six years for this, swapping the joy of those trips to Boracay with the barkada, as well as the Friday/Saturday night scene with the boys, all for this one moment. It is the biggest thing to happen in your life so far and is as close as it gets to pacing up and down the hallway outside the delivery room when you’re expecting your first child.

After all, this is not just a car that you have bought; it’s independence. It symbolizes all the hard work and sacrifices you have made over the years and is most likely going to be the second biggest investment you will make in your whole life. You haven’t slept properly in days just dreaming about it, and now you’re about to live that dream. If you could hit the pause button in life, now would be a good time.

You drive out of the dealership. Your face hurts from smiling so much. You’re sitting at the traffic lights running your hand over the dash and every other surface you can touch, just to make sure it is all real and you’re not still dreaming. Then you hear the sickening sound of metal against metal. You glance in your mirrors and see this fast food delivery bike next to you that has just put a deep four inch scratch down the side of your car as he tried to squeeze past.

Before you have time to even mourn, or wrap your fingers around this idiot’s scrawny little neck and beat him with the helmet that he is wearing on his elbow, you get hit with something a lot worse: “Sorry, po. I have no money. My grandmother is sick; my pet died; we lost our roof in the last typhoon; global warming killed our crops; I voted for Miriam Santiago in the last elections.” All the excuses under the tropical sun; but nothing in the way of a solution. Essentially, to compound your pain, You now find out what it is like to become a victim of the “tyranny of the weak” – a mysterious yet unspoken form of anarchy that rules our roads.

Sadly, all this happened to my friend Chris; but I’m sure that each and every one of you has experienced your own version of this story in varying degrees. And it has to stop. If this was just an accident, I wouldn’t be writing about it. But it’s not. It’s an attitude.

How do the weak practice tyranny? It is actually quite simple and explained beautifully by author, Ron McCray. He suggests that the basis for all psychological weakness is a refusal to take responsibility for one’s actions. For example, if I complain to my editor that I just can’t write this month’s Backseat Driver column because I have writer’s block, my hope is that he will find someone else to do it or even write it himself. Although I have a better shot at personally igniting World Peace than getting Dong Magsajo to write my articles for me, it still serves as a good example.

Basically, it would mean that I have shifted the responsibility of my commitment to someone else, and my excuse is that I am too “weak” to write it. Much like how this delivery bike rider scratches his head after side swiping Chris’ new car and says, “Pasensiya na lang po. Wala akong pera.” (Sorry, I have no money.) The weak prey on the strong, or in this case the (perceived) rich, to take on their responsibilities, and the strong, having pity or sympathy for the weak, often do.

McCray continues to explain that a situation like this gives the weak person reinforcement that says, “Hey, this weak act really works! I’m going to do more of it.” The weak person soon has others letting him cut in front, counter-flowing down major roads, solving legal problems for them, paying their hospital bills for them when they get hurt and generally solving “problems” for which the weak cannot seem to find solutions. It is manipulation of a highly developed and subversive order.

A few years ago, I was on Pioneer Street in Mandaluyong, turning left into one of the streets when a tricycle came barreling down the wrong side of the road from behind trying to break the TODA land speed record. When he saw my nose pull out, he swerved to miss my car. There was no contact between us; he was on the wrong side of the road; and he was driving way beyond the limits of his vehicle. But somehow it was my fault. He was traveling so fast that the evasive action alone sent his tricycle tumbling like a giant ball down the street, bouncing as high as six feet in the air, in a spectacular display of three wheeled acrobatics. But after the dust had settled, all eyes were on me.

I had to pay for the hospital bills of his passenger. He even tried to get me to pay for his tricycle and the loss of income, too. Not my fault, of course, but you know the drill. At first I was stubborn about it, until I was surrounded by an angry mob of his fellow tricycle drivers and realized that my pride could have cost me my life.

Another reader wrote in after he almost died because a truck had stalled on the highway after midnight and remained parked up with no lights or EWD. Once again, it was automatically his fault. Plus, he was given the dreaded, the-truck-driver-has-no-money-routine. So now, to compound his injuries, he was financially beaten to a purple-y pulp as well. He, like many before him, had become another victim of the tyranny of the weak.

I’m not trying to turn this into a rich vs. poor issue; this is solely about being responsible. Driving is a privilege – not a right – and must be treated as such. If you choose to do it, especially if you intend on making a living from it, you must accept the responsibilities as well as the dangers involved. What irks me more than those blasted pink fences is that a lot of drivers, especially public utility drivers who always claim they have no money, drive like they have the sultan of Brunei signing checks for them. They weave in and out, stop randomly on the fast lane and squeeze past you at the traffic lights like the road was named after them. And only when they hit you do they cry poverty.

My point, which I’ve taken as long to get to as a traffic cop trying to explain what swerving actually means, is that every motorist (pls. note that this includes bikes, tricycles and any type of vehicle – motorized or otherwise – using our roads) should be required by law to take responsibility for their actions by being at the very least insured for it. It cannot remain optional; because just like ABS and airbags, most people do not see the value of it until it’s too late. Most traffic altercations start getting ugly because neither party wants to admit guilt for fear of having to pay. If you’re insured, it becomes less personal, and therefore, less hassle.

A couple of days before Christmas last year, in the car park of Park Square, two cars collided in the ramp leading down to the cashier. Obviously they couldn’t come to terms with who was to blame so they refused to move their vehicles until the authorities turned up. This caused the traffic to bank up four levels high. I almost spent the twelve days of Christmas in that bloody car park trying to get out. Now, try adding some insurance into this story. It could have all ended differently.

And the benefits of mandatory insurance extend further than just plain accidents. It could improve our driving environment dramatically.

Just think, instead of this coding scheme or other traffic reducing efforts that the MMDA or LTO think up, we could inevitably restrict the amount of vehicles using our roads simply by insisting that each one be required by law to carry with it at least third party property insurance. I’m not talking about the one they sell you at the LTO, which has about as much coverage as a calamansi leaf placed over a grown man’s private parts, I’m suggesting that it be mandatory to pay an insurance premium on top of your driver’s license fee or vehicle’s registration fee that will cover you in the event of an accident that causes damage to someone else’s property.

This way, we could be certain that every registered vehicle or licensed driver to leave the LTO would be covered. Not just people like Chris. Worse case scenario, if we can’t reduce the quantity of traffic, at least we’ll improve the quality.

But the poor living off the rich! That's the way it's supposed to be!

*smacks himself for making a bad sarcastic remark*

AMEN!

Bullseye si Deakin jan!

I have become disheartened by these abusing bastards, and I really don't give a f*ck if they drop dead like flies, so when they give me that excuse I really just say "Wala akong pakialam" or "Eh wala ka palang pambayad gago ka pa magmaneho!" or I hit them where they hurt the most- questioning their "pagka-macho". And it happened probably twice in the past 5 years.

James Deakin is teh hotness... a pretty good write-up! :2thumbsup:

kaya ako takot talaga pag katabi mga trikes :nerves:

Recycled editorial? I've read this one before... In C!, I think.

Reminds me of the time my bro's friend was hit by a drag-racing scooter.

The guy had no helmet.

No shoes.

No lights.

And no license.

The friend paid for the funeral, simply out of courtesy, because said idiot died on the spot. (Hey, you try staying alive if you hit a car side-on at over 100 km/h without protective gear). Never mind the fact that the impact was so great that the driver's B-pillar was dented and his shoulder broken. Left without a car or the ability to drive for weeks.

Then the family tries to sue him for all he's got.

Of course, when the judge hears about said cyclist not having a helmet, shoes, lights or license, and they find out that he has no license because he's had five prior accidents... they throw it out of court.

Nice article. Pretty much sums up the anarchy in the streets we drive in.

great write up, kaya truly i believe that everyone should have insurance for these unavoidable circumstances... or else ur going to get the "kamot ulo" routine over and over again.

My solution with the "tyranny of the weak" is to assume the worse possible outcome and avoid them. Instead of getting all worked up and frustrated about the situation, just accept the situation and work within your area of control. That means using your horns when you see bikes on the wrong side of the road, make sure there is not enough room for bikes to go in between your car, avoiding squatter infested areas like Agham road, wearing your seat belts, etc.

Just to let you know. It's not always, the biker's fault. My girlfriend was riding her Vespa on her way home from work. While she was in the Rockwell area near the Bel Air gate, an Xtrail suddenly cut in front of her, causing her to loose control as she was trying to avoid the bumper of the Xtrail. The Vespa tipped over and she fell on the ground and blacked out. Good thing she was wearing full safety gear and the guards at the gate attended to her. The Xtrail driver turns out to a woman and was talking on her cellphone. She didn't even stop and just went along her way.

biktima na din ako nyan--> bagong pintura yung maxima, then biglang inatrasan ako sa likod! so nagalit ako, kinatywiran pang di ako nakita, nasa ospital tatay nya, wala ba akong puso, nagmamadali kasi siya...