Riding A Motorbike Around Luzon With Baby On Board

[afathertobe]

I have been pondering this for a while now to no conclusion and need your advice/opinions.

 

As discussed in another thread I am looking to buy a motorbike to be more mobile when in Manila and sometimes go for a trip outside the city. Now if it was just me and someone else I wouldn't worry at all, I have over a decade of experience riding in SEA and am confident in my driving abilities. But now that I have a 1 year old son who absolutely loves cars and motorbikes things become more complicated. We are back from a trip to Thailand, we we'd ride around the coastal roads with him squeezed between us, feeling safe in the relatively slower traffic around Khao Lak. But Manila's another beast, and I don't know about a) the safety and b) the legal situation if we'd do the same to escape the city.

 

The little one would be thrilled to sit between us and drive around, but I am still not sure how great an idea that is.

[Old55]

Do you love your child?

[Jack Peterson]

:unsure: :kidding:  Tell me I am dreaming  reading this Topic :rolleyes:

[scott h]

Do you love your child?

 

better yet, do you love yourself AND your family :unsure: .

 

Besides the beastly motorbike driving habits here in Manila. Consider in a car you enjoy a certain amount of anominity. Once you are on a bike and in plain view I predict that you will become a target. "you dented my car sir,,,give me money" "you cut me off sir, give me money" or my personal favorite "Look a stupid white guys on a motorbike, lets take him out and get revenge for 500 years of oppression" You might be able to negotiate it by yourself, but do you really want to subject your family to the risk?

 

Consider, there are many topics on this board about personal safety and being safe here in the Philippines. And almost universally the answer it. "It is safe, as long as you don't take unneeded risks, go to shady areas and don't loan money" IMHO taking a family of 3 on a bike, is just an unneeded risk.  

[afathertobe]

Well noted, scott h, I haven't even considered that aspect. As always when I ask the family they say it's no problem, just drive slowly etc etc. but as I said I have my doubts. Driving in some smaller place in Thailand just isn't the same as driving in Manila. I drove around Cebu island recently and the traffic is pretty sane and slow compared to China or other SEA countries.

 

I wouldn't hesitate a second to drive around in some Thai town or village with my son squeezed in between us, but I just have too little experience of the Phils to assess the danger of crime as described by you, that's why I need your advice.

[MikeB]

OP - I did not have your decade of bike riding around SEA when I had my accident outside Cebu City in 2011. I don't know if it would have mattered, I don't think so but maybe. It happened so fast (as most accidents do) and I can only remember a few tiny details and that's good. I don't want to remember and it's the last time I will ever ride a motorbike. But I drive in Cebu province all the time (a small SUV these days). I drive very carefully and defensively but I've had lots of close calls, had a very close one today in fact. The utter stupidity and lack of responsibility demonstrated by some of these people is absolutely astounding. Combine that with poor road conditions, inadequate lighting, no safety enforcement, lack of emergency lanes etc, etc, you couldn't pay to get me back on a bike. But the one thing that I will always be grateful for is that there was no one with me that day. How could I have lived with it, how could I explain it to their family? Luckily I didn't have to because it was just me that got messed up. The locals grow up on these things, they have an intuition about how it is here that none of us ever will, even with 10 years experience. And they still get killed and maimed all the time. My 2 year old is the most precious thing I'll ever have, I barely let him outside the front gate. Riding around Manila on a motorbike? Not in a kazillion years. 

[afathertobe]

OP - I did not have your decade of bike riding around SEA when I had my accident outside Cebu City in 2011. I don't know if it would have mattered, I don't think so but maybe. It happened so fast (as most accidents do) and I can only remember a few tiny details and that's good. I don't want to remember and it's the last time I will ever ride a motorbike. But I drive in Cebu province all the time (a small SUV these days). I drive very carefully and defensively but I've had lots of close calls, had a very close one today in fact. The utter stupidity and lack of responsibility demonstrated by some of these people is absolutely astounding. Combine that with poor road conditions, inadequate lighting, no safety enforcement, lack of emergency lanes etc, etc, you couldn't pay to get me back on a bike. But the one thing that I will always be grateful for is that there was no one with me that day. How could I have lived with it, how could I explain it to their family? Luckily I didn't have to because it was just me that got messed up. The locals grow up on these things, they have an intuition about how it is here that none of us ever will, even with 10 years experience. And they still get killed and maimed all the time. My 2 year old is the most precious thing I'll ever have, I barely let him outside the front gate. Riding around Manila on a motorbike? Not in a kazillion years. 

 

That's why I like a plurality of opinions and experiences. I have done tens of thousands of KM all over Asia, and never had a bad accident in the region. Some scratches and slips on Thai island roads, and got hit by a Taxi in Beijing but that's about it. I've seen a few very bad accidents, including fatal motorbike related ones, so am not oblivious to the dangers at all. And whereas I'm pretty relaxed and confident when it comes to my own safety I couldn't, as you say, ever imagine my little one getting hurt. If we lived in some quaint town or village it would be a different affair altogether, but there is no way to escape Taguig traffic and drive around some quiet and slow roads that I'm aware of. But if I go ahead and buy myself a motorbike the pressure from family and the little man will be great to take him on a little ride.... will have to figure out a good way to handle this.

[OnMyWay]

Another angle.

 

Even in the U.S., my opinion is, if you ride on the city streets where there is some traffic, sooner or later you are going to have to lay it down to avoid some idiot who didn't see you.  You might be ok if you are properly dressed and helmeted.  If you have a passenger, that is a whole different ballgame.  As the driver, you have some control over the bike and how if falls.  Passengers have none.  They will probably be whipped down on the pavement and have no chance of defense.  A child?  10X as bad.  They are defenseless.

 

=======

 

Subic Bay Freeport is a relatively safe place to ride, for the Philippines.  For the first year or so, I didn't see any motorbike accidents in the Freeport or outside in Olongapo.  Just recently, I have seen several.  Two of them appeared to be where the motorbike was sitting at a red light and got rear ended.  One of them was rear ended by a bus.  Do you want to take that chance with your child?

[brock]

No Kid of mine will go on a bike until he/she is bigger than me....

[Mike J]

When it came time to get my Philippine driver license I went to the LTO in Carcar.  Because I was a US citizen with a Washington State driver license, the director of the office was the approving authority.  We spent about 10 minutes or so in casual conversation.  At the end he said to me, "You are good now for cars and light vehicles.  You cannot drive a motorcycle because your current license does not have that endorsement.  Please do not drive a motorcycle, or try to learn to drive a motorcycle.  You are a nice person and I would hate to see you die in an accident.  Driving a motorcycle in the Philippines is not safe."  After driving in the Philippines, I can believe in what he says.  You can be an excellent driver, but there will be many people around you who are not.  You have a choice to take that risk, your son does not.