Lebanese use social media to shame reckless drivers

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority may want to take a cue from Lebanon when it comes to dealing with bad, undisciplined drivers: a full-fledged shame website. In Lebanon, a new website encourages users to take photos and videos of traffic violations, then submit them for posting online. Cheyef7alak extensively uses social networking site Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter to gather and upload images and videos of traffic violators. "Track, capture & report irresponsible drivers who pride themselves on disrespecting the traffic rules and regulations. If attention is what they’re looking for, why let them go unnoticed?" it encouraged motorists and citizens on its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/cheyef7alak). MMDA site On the MMDA website, one has to navigate through the site to access the photos of speeding vehicles violating the 60-kph limit along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. The latest batch indicates the last photos were taken as far back as February. However, visitors can immediately see on the MMDA website the number of violators of the MMDA's anti-littering and anti-smoking drives. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter YouTube videos posted on the site include violations involving taxi drivers, motorcycle riders, and even pedestrians. As of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday (Manila time), Cheyef7alak has 7,789 "likes" on its Facebook page and 431 followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/cheyef7alak). Cheyef7alak puts both Twitter and Facebook to good use, with an album on Facebook where users can upload images of traffic violations. Users can also use the hashtag, #Cheyef7alak to tweet violations as they happen. "The concept is great, and there’s no doubt that a lot of countries in the region are in desperate need of some sort of regulatory authority to crack down on traffic violations, seeing as the powers-that-be don’t," said an article on tech site The Next Web. — TJD, GMA News