Philippines lawmaker seeks to declare once a week ‘no honk day’

Manila: A lawmaker is seeking to declare a day in a week as “honk free day” in an effort to lessen excessive noise in the streets, as well as teach Filipino motorists road courtesy.

According to Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez of Leyte, House Bill 4542, which she recently filed, aims to bring to the people’s attention the importance of being patient while on the road, while at the same time bring down the ambient noise levels in Philippine roads.

Torres-Gomez, formerly a television host, said “it is a fact that many Filipinos lack simple road courtesy, tooting the horns of their vehicles at the slightest sources of irritation, real or imagined.”

“Some of them do not realise that their noisy impatience would not improve traffic congestion a whit. Worse, drivers of public utility vehicles actually impede the smooth flow of traffic by stopping at certain road points longer than allowed by the rules and honking their horns continuously in order to attract passengers,” she stressed.

Philippine streets, especially those in the urban areas, are very busy. Along with giving an impression of being constantly in a state of consternation, is the fact that the country has among the highest noise level of any country in Southeast Asia.

Filipino drivers, especially those driving public utility vehicles, would incessantly honk their horns in an effort to attract passengers. They would fit noisy tailpipes just to keep up with the trend and turn their in-vehicle sound systems to full blast while on the road.

“Some of them do not realize that their noisy impatience would not improve traffic congestion a whit,” Gomez stressed.

According to experts, noise pollution is an environmental hazard that would continue to affect people’s health if not regulated or eradicated.

A 1970s edict, Presidential Decree No 1152, was supposed to prescribe environmental pollution limits as well as community noise standards, however, this law had largely been ignored.

Torres-Gomez said: “If we look at it, the institution of car-less days is an even more radical approach towards smoke and noise pollution. If the latter practice is constitutionally defensible, we could, in the same breath, affirm that a one-day ban against the tooting of horns would easily stand the test of constitutional scrutiny.”

She proposed that a ban on honking of horns be imposed during Sundays when most Filipinos go to worship.

“The choice of Sunday as the horn tooting-free day is perhaps auspicious considering solemn religious activities are celebrated during this day,” she said.

Under the measure, it is prohibited for drivers of all public and private vehicles throughout the country the tooting of horns of their vehicles every Sunday except for ambulances and other vehicles carrying persons requiring immediate medical attention, fire trucks, police patrol cars, military vehicles and in emergency situations.

She proposed that those who would violate this law would be fined P500 (Dh41.85).