A dashcam footage of a police officer crossing an intersection and briefly causing vehicles to stop despite the green light signal has gone viral.
Automative publication VISOR on Wednesday, March 5, posted dashcam footage submitted by Jeremy Renzel Rivera, which showed a cop crossing a box junction even though the lane he was entering had the “go” signal.
About two motorists, including the one who submitted the video, were forced to temporarily stop to give way to the police.
“Ano bang meron sa mga pulis na naka-motor? Bakit masyadong entitled? Hinarangan lahat ng naka-go para makatawid lang [siya] mag-isa,” Rivera was quoted as saying on the publication’s Facebook page.
The incident happened at noontime on Tuesday, March 4.
Some Filipinos claimed the incident occurred “just a few hundred meters away” from Camp Crame, the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police.
“Gawain talaga nila ‘yan [diyan], parang norms na ‘yan [diyan]. And finally, this one got caught on video,” a top fan of the page commented.
The video has earned 139,000 views, 1,400 likes and reactions, and almost 300 comments so far, with some Filipinos criticizing the move.
“Dapat ganyan, may administrative case eh… Sunpendido. ‘Pag paulit-ulit, sibak dapat SA serbisyo. Wala kasi silang accountability eh. Exempted sila sa batas. Kung wala talagang consequences ‘yung ginagawa mo. Itutuloy mo lang,” a Facebook user wrote.
“‘Yun nga masaklap, sila tagapagpatupad ng batas pero simpleng rules [sa kalsada], e hindi sila sumusunod,” another Pinoy commented.
“What if hindi napansin ng driver kasi distracted, lasing, nawalan ng preno, nag-malfunction etc. Ta’s nabundol [siya], katangahan tawag [diyan], hindi [niya] iniingatan sarili [niyang] buhay,” a different online user wrote.
“Police, [exempted] sa batas?” another asked with a laughing emoji.
Box junctions are placed in intersections to prevent traffic congestion and gridlock.
Vehicles entering the box must continue moving, as stopping in the box is prohibited, except when it is clear that the vehicle cannot exit immediately, when turning right but is blocked by oncoming traffic, or when another vehicle is already in the box waiting to turn right.
According to the Land Transportation Office’s Road and Traffic Rules handbook, motorists are not allowed to block the yellow box intersection even when making a turn.
They are also expected to follow traffic signals as license holders, which is given as a privilege and not as a right.
