Driving In Olongapo City

[OnMyWay]

I now consider myself an experienced Philippines driver as I have now driven outside of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and into Olongapo City, twice!   :hystery:

 

Actually, driving in Olongapo is fairly tame.  I think some of the Freeport Zone rules and courtesies spill over into Olongapo.  What scares me is going back down to Laguna and driving on National Highway!  It is like the wild west down there!

[samatm]

Relax ....  It just happens and soon enough you get the feel of it.  Just throw your Drivers Ed.  lessons out the window They will get you killed here.

[JJReyes]

You sir are a brave man to drive in the Philippines. It's best for me to hire a car with driver. Also, less stressful.

 

I have driven in different parts of the world, including a left hand drive RV in the United Kingdom..The UK was fine, but a little tense. I no longer drive in the Philippines because my driving style does not conform to the local rules. I once hit the brakes to allow pedestrians to cross the street. The car behind nearly kissed my car's rear end. Loud curses and tooting of the horn. The pedestrians refused to cross thinking it was trick and that my real intent was to run over them. They prefer to weave in and out whenever traffic slows down.

[OnMyWay]

JJR, if you can drive in Hawaii you can drive in the Freeport.   As I said, Olongapo driving is also better than the other places I have been like Laguna, Manila, Cebu and Davao.  Davao driving was the nicest of those and Laguna was the worst!  The Freeport is by far the best driving of all of them, except I have heard that I will get pulled over for an infraction, sooner or later.

[JJReyes]

I suppose it's possible to re-learn bad driving habits like weaving in and out of traffic or not to give-in when other drivers try to cut in front of you. Speaking of Laguna, three of us did a day trip last October to the UP Los Banos campus. That was easy. Then it was off looking for the Costales Nature Farm. The person behind the wheel was Bayanman, a member of this forum. He had a GPS on his dashboard. Don Gordon confirmed our location using an iPad. It turns out some of the streets on the navigation system did not exist or were proposed roads, but never built.

 

The Tagalog between the three of us was insufficient to ask for directions. So the response from the locals was the classic point you finger in any direction and say, "Doon" or over there. Translation is, "I don't know what you want, but it's too embarassing for me to admit it." 

 

Late lunch was a bowl of fresh lettuce from the farm. We stopped by a McDonalds during the return to Manila. The French fries were the finest I have ever tasted.

[Jake]

I now consider myself an experienced Philippines driver as I have now driven outside of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and into Olongapo City, twice!   :hystery:

 

Actually, driving in Olongapo is fairly tame.  I think some of the Freeport Zone rules and courtesies spill over into Olongapo.  What scares me is going back down to Laguna and driving on National Highway!  It is like the wild west down there!

I'm sorry OMW, but you need to perform one more driving skill for you to claim you're experienced.

Those switchback turns near the city cemetery on your way towards Subic City -- you need to pass

another vehicle on a blind curve.  Once completed, pull over, get out and bless the left front tire.  

 

Make sure you shake it twice.....he, he.  

Edited April 4, 2013 by Jake

[i am bob]

Having worked as a taxi driver in Niagara Falls (at two different times in my life) and survived the tourists, driven in other wonderful no-holds-barred driving like Singapore and Hong Kong (usually during rush hour) and being qualified several times for the wonderful RCMP evasive driving course (I don't think the winter Ice and Snow version I used to teach will do me much good), I don't think I will have much issue with Philippine driving.  Can't be any worse than getting out of my local dirt-track Speedway parking lot at the end of the races, can it?

 

:mocking:

[JJReyes]

Your big problem driving in rural areas is small children who consider the road as their playground since they are not provided a real play area. They place small stones on the roadway to mark out their territory. Sometimes it's two or three inch logs. Both are hazards. It's also difficult to spot the children because they are tiny. Clothes is just a dirty t-shirt. Nothing else.

 

If you drive slow, they may stone your vehicle as part of a game. If you drive fast and kill one of the children, the parents expect compensation for the rest of their lives. The theory is God gave parents children to support them in their old age. Ask Bruce. He did a recent post about a mother who doesn't mind if her small son gets killed in a road accident because she expects to receive a substantial amount of money.

 

If I was the driver and hit a child, the neon signs flash, "Jackpot!" If I was a passenger and someone else is driving, I will be expected to pay, but the amount is much less.

 

By the way, my middle name is Paranoid.

Edited April 4, 2013 by JJReyes

[MikeB]

Your big problem driving in rural areas is small children who consider the road as their playground since they are not provided a real play area. They place small stones on the roadway to mark out their territory. Sometimes it's two or three inch logs. Both are hazards. It's also difficult to spot the children because they are tiny. Clothes is just a dirty t-shirt. Nothing else.

If you drive slow, they may stone your vehicle as part of a game. If you drive fast and kill one of the children, the parents expect compensation for the rest of their lives. 

I live in a rural area and drive nearly every day. I have never been "stoned" by kids in the Philippines but it has happened to me back in the US. In general, I have found kids here to be much more respectful but there are always exceptions. Biggest problem by far are tricycles and cycads, biggest danger - trucks. But the locals know the rules and they have their own system; it looks worse then it actually is but people die on the roads here everyday, just like everywhere. 

[OnMyWay]

you need to pass another vehicle on a blind curve.

 

Passing on a blind curve in my 90 hp Avanza will be extra exciting!