My uncle who is based in the United States is in the country to visit us. I was pleasantly surprised to know that unlike other balikbayans, he is still optimistic about our country. He believes that there is more room for improvement. One example he cited was with regard to the rampant traffic violations in the country.
Over lunch, my uncle told my family and I that the Philippines should adopt the United States' home study online traffic school program. Huh? We were all clueless. So he explained some more. According to him, traffic violators in San Francisco may choose to enroll in an online course to dismiss a traffic ticket which will prevent traffic violations from damaging one's driving record. The offender will still get a ticket but he may choose to enroll online rather than to personally attend seminars for traffic violators. The online course may have several modules and each module will be followed by an exam to test the student's comprehension of the course. After finishing the program, the online school will issue a certificate as proof of completion of the course which will then be forwarded to the court.
I found this interesting. Imagine how convenient it would be for traffic offenders in our country. There will be no need to go to LTO to attend those seminars. I once accompanied a friend who was required to attend a seminar in LTO because of a traffic violation and we had a very horrible experience. They make you wait for the longest time in a very crowded place. And in the end, you won't really attend a seminar. They just make you pay the fine and then you're free to go.
But I admit that our country might not be prepared for the online traffic schools yet. First of all, a number of the offenders would be public utility vehicle drivers. We can't expect the jeepney or bus drivers to have internet access. Worse, they might not even know how to use the computer. Second, there might be a problem in ensuring that the real offender would be the same person taking the course. One can simply ask a smarter friend to take the course and the tests. This will defeat the purpose of educating the traffic offender. Finally, a friend of mine pointed out that this kind of program might not work in the Philippines because violators bribe the law enforcers anyway. After all, that would be the easiest, although not the most proper, way out of the violation.
There may be a lot of obstacles in implementing a home study online traffic school program in the Philippines at present. But it's definitely something that we should consider.
Sources:
http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/traffic-schools.php
http://www.onlinetrafficschoolguide.com/driving_laws.html
http://www.onlinetraffic.com/Online_Traffic_School/How_It_Works/
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