By now, you’re probably already aware that reckless motorcycle vloggers have been promoted from kamote to tae. A viral video started the week, showing riders racing on a public road in Zamboanga. Of course, you know what happened: The two adversaries collided with each other.

That’s not all. This morning, we published an unedited version of the video (sent to us by a concerned individual). Turns out the racing pair did not just hit the pavement but also managed to plow into other road users. That bit—the one exposing the crash with civilians—had not been included in the original post by the vlogger involved in the shenanigans. Which makes you wonder: What other misadventures don’t we get to see in the production of the stupid content that these vloggers serve to their gullible followers?

The penalty for the culprits? Three-month suspension of their motoring license. Is this enough? What do you think? Read everyone’s reaction here.

As I was preparing to write this piece, a staff member of LTO Region 9 reached out to us and shared the above photo. It shows one of the riders in the video being served his summons, I think.

In a way, it’s nice that the authorities want us to know that they are doing something about the incident. The question is: Is it enough? Is three months of not having a license enough to teach these guys a lesson? I’m not here to judge, but you tell me. Other daredevil vloggers must be laughing and may even be vowing to pull off more jaw-dropping stunts after this episode.

These motorcycle content producers won’t stop until they finally realize that everything can and will be taken away from them if they don’t behave. We need to make them know they stand to lose their platform and their freedom to influence their audience. They have to be told that they can’t continue posting stuff just for the likes, the shares, the clout.

Let’s put a stop to this madness by officially laying down the accountability at the feet of the authorities and YouTube. I still can’t understand how the video-sharing website is allowing lunatic content producers to populate its platform with dangerous motoring footage. Not only are irresponsible vloggers being given a stage upon which to demonstrate their idiocy, they are actually even getting paid to do so. No wonder they keep outdoing themselves in displaying dumb exploits.

You know what will make these vloggers fall in line? Threaten to penalize them (not with a slap on the wrist) and shut down their social-media channels if they continue to give their viewers garbage.

Gently convincing viewers not to watch this kind of content is useless. You can’t appeal to someone’s intelligence if he doesn’t have it in the first place. If you have rotting trash in your house, you don’t argue with the rats and expect them to stay away from it—you throw away the decaying matter.

Oh, and while we’re at it, can we check if these vloggers are paying taxes for whatever they’re making from their gig? Just a thought.

UPDATE: On September 13, 2021, the Land Transportation Office officially revoked the licenses of the three persons involved in the viral video taken in Zamboanga.