Philippine Motorcycle Drivers

[Onemore52]

I have a thread going at the moment on the subject of maids, I was going to tack this on the end of that but that would be confusing.

With the other thread in mind someone might say well why are you still here, and yesterday I came close to having to leave as I was driving along and a motorcycle with 4 people on it came out in front of me from the right hand side without even looking at me, at the same time another car was overtaking me on the left hand side, how they all didn't get killed is pure luck, as the overtaking car swerved to the left to miss the motorcycle.

Me being the foreigner would have been blamed for sure, and as a friend of mine living in Thailand says about their driving, "They only live for today"

I just don't get it, once again why I don't go out much.

There is a taxi service in town but we have called them about 4 times so far and they just don't turn up, business must be good.

[Tommy T.]

10 minutes ago, Onemore52 said:

Me being the foreigner would have been blamed for sure, and as a friend of mine living in Thailand says about their driving, "They only live for today"

 

Sad to say, but there are several threads and countless posts regarding driving here - motorcycles, tricycles, jeepneys, vans, taxis, cars, pedestrians... It seems that few either have licenses or training. Many don't seem to care. That doesn't count the dogs, cats, chickens, goats, carabou, kids and drunks that all wander around and into traffic. I drive as little as possible, but it is just easier to do so - if stressful - at times.

And parking oft times is a nightmare, even at malls. Get to the local Gaisano Mall after 11:00 am and I find myself trying to find a place to park on the roof. People park all over without regard to courtesy or access to those already parked properly.

All you can do is just be super careful and always expect the unexpected.

[Arizona Kid]

7 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

I have a thread going at the moment on the subject of maids, I was going to tack this on the end of that but that would be confusing.

With the other thread in mind someone might say well why are you still here, and yesterday I came close to having to leave as I was driving along and a motorcycle with 4 people on it came out in front of me from the right hand side without even looking at me, at the same time another car was overtaking me on the left hand side, how they all didn't get killed is pure luck, as the overtaking car swerved to the left to miss the motorcycle.

Me being the foreigner would have been blamed for sure, and as a friend of mine living in Thailand says about their driving, "They only live for today"

I just don't get it, once again why I don't go out much.

There is a taxi service in town but we have called them about 4 times so far and they just don't turn up, business must be good.

Front and rear dash cam. Not that expensive but it could save you countless headaches if someone says it's your fault. I drive almost every single day for an hour or so around 3 pm. Don't drive at night because I have heavily tinted windows and can't see a damn thing after sunset. Don't want to run over a kid that runs into the street or anything like that.

[expatuk2014]

Front and rear dashcams are a must here ! I dont drive now we hire a regular driver at weekends who we pay on average 500 -700pesos a day depending on how long we are out  plus he eats with us also. We see many crazy things on camera! And regarding parking in the malls , well if its around 11am-1pm thats eating time ! If you want a parking place then you have to be there before 10am ! If we need to go to the mall we only go mon-fri ! 

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by expatuk2014
Pressed enter by mistake

[graham59]

I will NOT drive here...unless called upon to do so in an absolute emergency. 

(Luckily for us) .  My brother-in-law and his licensed trike takes care of most of our day to day needs, including visits to the beach (7 miles), or to the nearest big city (10 miles).... plus to the supermarket every fortnight for our 'big shop'...where he also does the queuing for us. 

Plenty of cheap aircon buses for longer trips. 

Vehicle ownership in the Phils for me,  would simply entail a lot of unneeded expense, red tape,  and stress... but each to their own.  

I do have a bicycle... and two good legs.  

Edited February 5, 2020 by graham59

[Jack Peterson]

23 minutes ago, graham59 said:

I do have a bicycle... and two good legs.  

 Nothing to Add 

[RBM]

12 hours ago, graham59 said:

 

I do have a bicycle... and two good legs.  

Interesting........ do you find it safe riding a bike here?

[graham59]

1 hour ago, RBM said:

Interesting........ do you find it safe riding a bike here?

I only ride it on the 'quiet'  roads here in the countryside, so not really a problem...though I did ride a bicycle when I lived in Angeles City, and that was not too bad, if you kept your wits about you...as with even walking anywhere in this undisciplined country. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by graham59

[RBM]

12 minutes ago, graham59 said:

I only ride it on the 'quiet'  roads here in the countryside, so not really a problem...though I did ride a bicycle when I lived in Angeles City, and that was not too bad, if you kept your wits about you...as with even walking anywhere in this undisciplined country. 

Reason I asked was here in Bacolod it would be kinda scary. A well know poster on this forum was killed some time ago riding, hit from behind by a dump truck.

[graham59]

I'm sure it is likely to be scary anywhere in these islands.  Again, one can only take as much care as possible, and ride/drive 'defensively' . 

In fact a 'runaway' dump truck ran into the back of a trike last year, maybe 300m up from our house. All on CCTV. A very popular local family man too. Tragic.