Today I Get To Clean The Blood Off My Car

[Dave Hounddriver]

At 2:30 am this morning I was awakened to a large bang. It sounded like a 2 car collision so I wrapped in a towel and went to the front gate to see what was up. I could see nothing.A few minutes later there is a lot of commotion outside so I put on some shorts and went back outside. This time I went outside the gate. I had not seen the body previously because my vehicle was parked between her and my gate. She was just out of sight.It was not long before the police came and then one of the local trike drivers came to say he had seen something. The 50 ish year old woman was riding her bicycle with no lights at 2:30 am and was right beside my parked car when a Mitsubishi Adventure SUV smashed into her, sending the bike and her flying. She was dead when she hit the ground and some of her blood is still on my vehicle, she was that close!I am disturbed by this for 2 reasons, other than the obvious. It still upsets me that the culture here is to 'not get caught' rather than to do the right thing so the driver of the SUV is long gone. The trike driver said the vehicle stopped, looked, and fled. The second thing was hearing the family when they were brought to the scene. There was a lot of crying for mama. Although her children seemed grown there was a lot of shock to deal with.I was impressed that a truck driver had actually stopped and called police and they actually arrived quickly. I have sympathy for the family's loss. As to what the lady was doing on her bicycle at 2:30 am we can only guess. She was known to the locals as a lady who had a market stall so it was likely business related. They do get an early start here.R.I.P.

[Mr Lee]

At 2:30 am this morning I was awakened to a large bang. It sounded like a 2 car collision so I wrapped in a towel and went to the front gate to see what was up. I could see nothing.A few minutes later there is a lot of commotion outside so I put on some shorts and went back outside. This time I went outside the gate. I had not seen the body previously because my vehicle was parked between her and my gate. She was just out of sight.It was not long before the police came and then one of the local trike drivers came to say he had seen something. The 50 ish year old woman was riding her bicycle with no lights at 2:30 am and was right beside my parked car when a Mitsubishi Adventure SUV smashed into her, sending the bike and her flying. She was dead when she hit the ground and some of her blood is still on my vehicle, she was that close!I am disturbed by this for 2 reasons, other than the obvious. It still upsets me that the culture here is to 'not get caught' rather than to do the right thing so the driver of the SUV is long gone. The trike driver said the vehicle stopped, looked, and fled. The second thing was hearing the family when they were brought to the scene. There was a lot of crying for mama. Although her children seemed grown there was a lot of shock to deal with.I was impressed that a truck driver had actually stopped and called police and they actually arrived quickly. I have sympathy for the family's loss. As to what the lady was doing on her bicycle at 2:30 am we can only guess. She was known to the locals as a lady who had a market stall so it was likely business related. They do get an early start here.R.I.P.

Our condolences to her family. Sad but with so many business and family conflicts here over money, it could have been intentional, or it probably was an accident and the driver, as you said, did not wish to get caught because it would possibly mean time in jail and his or her car being held until the family was paid and signed a release. The system is flawed here, in that even if you are not wrong, you still have to pay. A woman on a bike without lights at that time of night is at least partly at fault, a driver at night should have been going slow enough and with their lights on (that is yet another problem here) to see the person on a bike before they hit them, so if I had been the driver of that vehicle, then I sure would stop and at least offer to pay the family because I would have been partially at fault, but my being a foreigner, it might cost me many times as much as it might if a local hit them. Sad that this type of behavior goes on here on a regular basis. Possibly the driver might turn themselves in at a later time, instead of stopping on a dark night and worrying about possible family retribution.

[Jollygoodfellow]

At 2:30 am this morning I was awakened to a large bang. It sounded like a 2 car collision so I wrapped in a towel and went to the front gate to see what was up. I could see nothing.A few minutes later there is a lot of commotion outside so I put on some shorts and went back outside. This time I went outside the gate. I had not seen the body previously because my vehicle was parked between her and my gate. She was just out of sight.It was not long before the police came and then one of the local trike drivers came to say he had seen something. The 50 ish year old woman was riding her bicycle with no lights at 2:30 am and was right beside my parked car when a Mitsubishi Adventure SUV smashed into her, sending the bike and her flying. She was dead when she hit the ground and some of her blood is still on my vehicle, she was that close!I am disturbed by this for 2 reasons, other than the obvious. It still upsets me that the culture here is to 'not get caught' rather than to do the right thing so the driver of the SUV is long gone. The trike driver said the vehicle stopped, looked, and fled. The second thing was hearing the family when they were brought to the scene. There was a lot of crying for mama. Although her children seemed grown there was a lot of shock to deal with.I was impressed that a truck driver had actually stopped and called police and they actually arrived quickly. I have sympathy for the family's loss. As to what the lady was doing on her bicycle at 2:30 am we can only guess. She was known to the locals as a lady who had a market stall so it was likely business related. They do get an early start here.R.I.P.

Certainly not the best way to wake up for you Dave,hope it does not play on your mind to long but Im sure it will be hard to put behind you.Why did they bring the family to the scene ill never know,seems to me that it would be harder for the family to see their relative dead on the ground where it happened.Anyway just shows we dont know when our time will be up.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Why did they bring the family to the scene ill never know,seems to me that it would be harder for the family to see their relative dead on the ground where it happened.Anyway just shows we dont know when our time will be up.

That's a good question. The police already knew who she was as evidenced by the way they found the family members so quickly. Its possible one of the locals went and knocked on their door and told them to come, or its possible the cops have seen too many movies where they need to have the next of kin identify the body. My cynical guess is that nobody wants to pay to have the body taken away so they call the relatives to come get their kin.I finished cleaning and its amazing what human detritus you will find and how far it goes. 'Nuff said. Funny how I keep looking at every Adventure SUV I see to look for dents. Best I can say for the dear lady is it was very, very quick.

[love2winalot]

Hiya. It is a part of the culture here, to drive at night, without your lights on. They have been taught that this will prolong the life of the lights, the battery, and that the vehicle will use less fuel, with the lights off. The part about the family being there is also part of the culture, taught from the church, about closure. They are actually taught, that seeing the, "actual death", or pictures, "blood an all", of the actual death, provides closure. When Gloria was in the car accident, i was told by first cousions to send the, "Bloody Pictures", of the accident to them. I not only did not have them, or even want them, but got yelled at for not providing them?Hit an Run happens in every single part of the world, where their are cars.

[Mr Lee]

Follow up on this story HEREA 73-YEAR-OLD woman, who was about to join a dawn rosary, was killed in a road accident in Liloan, Cebu yesterday morning. Gloria Aguinod died on the spot after she was hit by a sports utility vehicle (SUV), PO2 Routchil Jugalbot said, in a phone interview.Aguinod suffered fractures in the head, body and thigh, Jugalbot said.She died on the spot. Before the incident happened at 2:35 a.m., Jugalbot said Aguinod was riding her bicycle along the national highway in Barangay Tayud. Aguinod was catching up with her friends when the SUV hit her, Jugalbot said. She was thrown 10 meters away from her bicycle, which was also wrecked. A portion of the car’s bumper was broken, Jugalbot said. A habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver told the police that the car was travelingfast toward the neighboring Compostela town. The habal-habal driver, however, failed to get the car’s plate number, Jugalbot said. Once identified, Jugalbot said, the owner will be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Thanks for finding that for me KuyaLee. It seems she was older than we thought but still did not deserve that tragedy. There are a lot of people who go to dawn rosary around here. Most of them walk at about 430 am. I hope they find the driver and prove that he was drunk and throw the book at him. (Its my opinion that he had to be either very drunk or tired to not see something, at least try to slow down, there was no sound of braking and no skid marks.

[MikeB]

My sincerest condolences to the family of this poor woman. I can't express the words here I feel about the lowlife that did it except to say I hope they catch whomever is responsible for this despicable, cowardly act and they pay dearly. I have no idea what the punishment is for "reckless imprudence resulting in homicide" but an eye for an eye would work for me.

Edited April 17, 2011 by Kuya Lee
edit

[Dave Hounddriver]

Follow up:Today I was walking with member Brucewayne and we saw a reward poster for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver of the SUV. The reward was 20,000 PHP.Bruce told me that his wife had heard the following information. The driver of the SUV turned himself in to the PNP recently. It seems he is a 22 year old nursing graduate who was at a party in Mactan with his GF until 2am that night. It seems the GF encouraged him to turn himself in by playing on his superstitions that the ghost of the old woman was haunting him There is no knowledge whether she will get the reward.Both the victim's family and the driver's family have sufficient money so the young man was jailed but is now said to be out on 30,000 PHP bail. The driver's family is rumored to have offered 1 Mill to settle liability issues. The victim's family is rumored to be suggesting that 2 Mill might make them consider it.It was a tragic occurrence that will haunt both families for a long, long time.

[Jake]

Follow up:Today I was walking with member Brucewayne and we saw a reward poster for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver of the SUV. The reward was 20,000 PHP.Bruce told me that his wife had heard the following information. The driver of the SUV turned himself in to the PNP recently. It seems he is a 22 year old nursing graduate who was at a party in Mactan with his GF until 2am that night. It seems the GF encouraged him to turn himself in by playing on his superstitions that the ghost of the old woman was haunting him There is no knowledge whether she will get the reward.Both the victim's family and the driver's family have sufficient money so the young man was jailed but is now said to be out on 30,000 PHP bail. The driver's family is rumored to have offered 1 Mill to settle liability issues. The victim's family is rumored to be suggesting that 2 Mill might make them consider it.It was a tragic occurrence that will haunt both families for a long, long time.

Thanks Dave and Brucewayne for the follow up. Indeed a tragic story for both families but at least the driver had a conscience (or was it fear) by turning himself in. You know the "blood money" will continue to increase whenlawyers are involved -- another tragic reality.Respectfully -- Jake