Cross My Heart and Hope to Drive

I renewed my driver's license at LTO Calamba this morning. It was pretty uneventful but not difficult since the way the center is set up and run makes it's easier to go to the designated areas and windows. First stop was the drug test and medical; I was glad for the several glasses of iced tea I chugged down before leaving the house. I got my first license in the Pila office six years ago and the cramped spaces made for an unpleasant and smelly experience. 

There was something new though, that I didn't do when I renewed here three years ago. Before the application can be processed (after the drug and medical tests), we had to stand in front of the waiting area, facing a TV monitor. With right hands raised, we read off a pledge to obey traffic rules and all those stuff we took in the driver's ed written exam. This is apparently what many drivers have promptly forgotten (or chose to ignore)once they got those little plastic cards in their hands.

After every statement ("Titingin sa kaliwa, kanna, kaliw ulit bago lumiko,"Susunod sa tamang bilis ng pagpapatakbo," or something to that effect), we would say, "Dahil dito nakaksalalay ang aking buhay at ito ang nararapat."

I don't know about you, but half of the maniacs behind the wheels of those huge, hulking masses of rubber and metal on our streets and highways certainly do not drive like their (and other people's) lives depend on it and that it is how it should be.

Maybe they ought to videotapes these little swearing-in shows, file it away somewhere, then show it to the offender once he breaks any of "his promises" then... Oh yeah, then what? 


* kuliglig *




*photo from Google