Every time you think this place can’t surprise you anymore, someone somewhere goes: “Hold my lambanog and watch this!”

This latest edition of “Stories You Didn’t See Coming” is brought to you by Swerte party-list representative Arlyn Ayon, who, during the recent House Committee on Transportation hearing discussing the fuel situation, asked the Land Transportation Office to consider taking it easy with the apprehension of erring motorists as fuel prices keep going up.

When given the floor by chairperson Franz Pumaren, Ayon asked LTO chief Marcus Lacanilao: “Pwede ba nating ‘no apprehension’ muna for two weeks or three weeks for the meantime habang naghihirap ’yung ating mga tao, habang lubog tayo ngayon sa kahirapan dahil sa sitwasyon natin?”

Lacanilao, however, wasn’t exactly supportive of the idea: “Road safety po ito, eh. Yung mga ina-apprehend po namin ay yung mga may violation. So kung magko-comply yung mga kababayan natin at hindi sila gagawa ng traffic violations, wala po silang problema sa amin sa LTO.”

While the idea seemed well-intentioned, you do have to query the mental gymnastics between linking fuel prices to traffic violations—especially if you look at recent road safety statistics. The Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group recorded 2,747 road deaths in 2024, up sharply from 2,030 in 2023 and a 35.3% spike in a single year. Total vehicular crashes also rose 27.6%, from 24,495 cases in 2023 to 31,258 in 2024. Of the 31,258 crashes in 2024, 87.17% were caused by reckless driving, including bad overtaking, improper turning, speeding, drunk driving, overloading, and phone use while driving.

Just looking at those stats should make it abundantly clear that declaring a legal free-for-all on the nation’s roads would almost certainly have disastrous consequences, and send already chaotic Metro Manila into full Mad Max mode. Instead, fuel subsidies, free bus rides, the suspension or reduction of fuel excise taxes, as well as price monitoring and anti-profiteering enforcement would be better short-term measures (some of these are already being implemented).

In the long term, measures such as diversifying the supply and accelerating the renewable energy transition would help to avoid price shocks like the ones we are seeing right now. Suspending traffic enforcement—however well-intentioned—would be a mistake, and just lead to more accidents, harm and costs. If anything, now is the time to calm down and drive as smoothly and relaxed as possible. Your wallet will thank you for it.