Manila, Feb. 8 -- Every now and then, we read in the newspapers or hear from radio and television news reports about grim accidents involving various types of motor vehicles, including buses and big and overloaded cargo trucks along roads in various parts of the country.

The usual reason given by the drivers to traffic investigators as cause of the accident was "lost brakes" and other malfunctioning mechanical parts of the vehicle.

Whenever I read about vehicular accident reports, often accompanied with photos showing dead and injured victims, or houses near the road shoulders rammed and destroyed by cargo trucks driven by apparently reckless or drunken drivers, I am tempted to ask myself the following questions:

--How safety-conscious...