Ten Commandments on the Road

When you go to the parking lot of Congress, you’ll have the impression that each one is out to “outsize” the car of everyone else. You’ll see the biggest cars there; and I don’t mean only five or ten cars. It seems to reflect an unspoken rule: the bigger car you have, the more powerful you are. If this is so, then it is a violation of the 5th of the Ten Commandments – for drivers, that is.

The Vatican, which apparently is also concerned with your driving habits, issued a set of Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road. The Guidelines include a “decalogue”, in analogy with the Ten Commandments. Let’s call it the Ten Commandments for drivers:

I. You shall not kill.

II. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

III. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

IV. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents.

V. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

VI. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

VII. Support the families of accident victims.

VIII. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

IX. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

X. Feel responsible towards others.

Now, as to the 9th Commandment, are you reminded of pedestrians crossing the Coastal Road or the South Luzon Expressway (NLEX)? They are not supposed to be there. Yet, they play patintero with you. Don’t tell me you’re not pissed off, perhaps thinking about hitting them just to drive home the point (pun intended). Never do that, of course.

Now, would you want to confess something? You can do it here. =)

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