A video of two pedestrians crossing the road while using lights to signal vehicles went viral on Facebook.
A motoring publication on Monday, February 26, posted a clip from a dashboard camera footage from Marielle Regido, who shared the video “for awareness.”
“Sharing this video for awareness sana — na ‘wag naman gamitan ng flashlight ‘yung mga sasakyan ‘pag tatawid,” she said, as quoted by VISOR.
“Mas lalo po nilang ilalagay ang sarili nila sa kapahamakan, pati na rin ‘yung motorista. Ang layo pa lang po, nabulag na nila ako,” Regido added.
VISOR opened the discussion by captioning the video with the following: “TAMA o MALI?”
The footage features a car driving along a dim highway when two bright lights appear on its right side.
As the car gets closer, it becomes evident that pedestrians are holding devices emitting the bright lights.
The pedestrians turn it off immediately as they successfully reach the other side of the road.
The post has amassed 78,000 views, 3,300 likes and reactions and 1,300 comments so far.
Some Pinoys approved the initiative since the area where the car was driving was poorly lit.
“Tama, for pedestrian safety, lalo na’t madilim lugar, mahirap na ma-hit and run,” a Facebook user commented.
“Good idea… dito kasi [sa atin] hindi uso magbigay sa pedestrian. Makikipag-patintero ka pa sa mga sasakyan,” another user wrote.
Others reminded drivers to always slow down when approaching pedestrian crossings.
“‘Pag pedestrian crossing, slow down talaga dapat at sila ang priority ‘pag may tatawid. Sa ibang Southeast Asian countries, o kahit sa iba pang side ng mundo, [automatic] po ‘yan,” a Filipino commented.
Some suggested that the pedestrians could have directed the lights slightly lower than eye level to prevent blinding the drivers.
“Ok nga e, kitang kita, pero dapat ‘wag [na lang] tutok para ‘di nakakasilaw, [medyo] nakanggulo pababa sana, para tamang visibility lang,” a Pinoy wrote.
“Grabe naman kasi ‘yung flash nila, sa mismong driver talaga??? Dapat man lang medyo naka-anggulo pababa para ‘di masilaw ‘yung nagda-drive… Paano kung may astigmatism ‘yung nagda-drive? Sakit na ulo nun. Pero kudos pa din sa mga tumatawid at naisip nila na mag-flash kapag nasa pedestrian. Napakadilim diyan sa parteng ‘yan,” another user said.
Drivers commonly practice road courtesy by slowing down when approaching marked pedestrian crossings, designated areas where pedestrians have the right of way.
The painted surface signals drivers to look out for people crossing the road or are about to cross.
Pedestrian crossings should be well-lit, making it easy for drivers to see pedestrians.
The Land Transportation and Traffic Code also notes that drivers must yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing any road as long as they are within a crosswalk.