RSS Feeds: Defensive Driving in Olongapo, Philippines
Defensive driving takes on a whole new meaning in Olongapo City. A reader sent me the link to a YouTube video depicting a road trip from the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway through Olongapo City. It's either a Sunday or a period in the day where traffic is lighter than usual. I can assure you it gets much worse than that, especially when the students get out of school for the evening. I've embedded the video below, but first I'd like to mention a few things.
The Olongapo Demolition Derby
I think of driving in Olongapo as akin to a demolition derby, where the last car that's still able to move is the winner. As you can see if you pay attention during the video, starting at about the 2 minute mark, drivers rarely use turn signals and they rarely stop at intersections. They pull out from the side roads onto the main road, without stopping, and force drivers already on the main road to either slow to a near stop or stop completely.
The video doesn't continue onto residential streets, where traffic is much worse than on the main streets.
Defensive Driving
The normal rules used in defensive driving don't apply here. The only defensive driving technique you need to know is to drive slower than the speed limit (usually much slower) and watch everything in every direction constantly. You never know when a pedestrian is going to pop out in front of you (after getting out of jeepney or just crossing the street). They rarely look at the traffic. It's almost as if they're zombies waiting for pedestrian injuries to occur.
Vehicles come at you from all directions. Turning in front of you, cutting you off when you're going straight, is a common occurrence. Coming at you from the wrong side of the road is another occurrence. Add to this the fact that a lot of the jeepneys and trikes just stop in front of you, without any brake lights, and you can end up a nervous wreck before you get home again. It's a good thing that liability insurance is a requirement — I definitely feel like I'm going to get in an accident every single time I head out on a road trip, regardless of the distance.
Here's the video. Watch it two or three times like I did. Take into consideration that this is light traffic:
Similar Posts:
Wow thats pretty bad. I thought the driving was bad when I moved to Los Angeles. But LA ain't got nothing on Olongapo. I hope the insurance companies aren't difficult to deal with there.
It's really hard to drive in the Philippines. There are many reckless drivers especially jeepney drivers. They would always cut off and run on red lights. There are also many teenage drivers who drag race on the wee hours of the morning thinking that there are no traffic…but it is still dangerous. There was an accident in Bacolod City that happened about 3 years ago that killed a school teacher because 2 teenage drivers were racing on a main road and they hit a school teacher riding a motorcycle.
Sometimes, getting an insurance is really helpful because we don't know what may happen to us on the road.
I think what they need is a strict implementation of the law. They have the law but the problem is the execution.
@mike
You are right mike, rash driving is dangerous no matter in which part you the world you are?
No incentive to buy a new car there.
Getting insurance is a must for a car driver but aside from that he should learn how to drive safely and attentively while on the driving seat.