Philippine Roads and Why I Hate Them
I love driving. Let me drive for hours on end, and I don't mind. I might even thank you. There's just something so exhilirating about driving, that's why I never mind driving for other people. Personally, it's a real pleasure.
So somebody tell me why the past few days have been pure, unadulterated hell getting around town???
Last Friday, I drove my sister to the orthodontist in Manila. One thing I realized: if you are not gutsy behind the wheel, you are so gonne be eaten up alive by rabid jeepney and bus drivers as well as other private motorists. By the time we were driving back, my temper was already flaring. This was coupled by the fact that I was hungry. At this point, I was hoping someone would bump me so I could fight him. I needed to let off some steam.
Saturday, traffic was just as awful around the Megamall area. I mean, whoever heard of buses loading passengers smack on the third (middle) lane of EDSA??? Or jeeps cutting across a whole road to let off someone. This is why I am very generous with the horn of the car (thank God Toyota makes 'em loud!). My mom hates that I beep a lot but then again, she just rides. She doesn't know how to drive.
Enduring traffic over the weekend made me ask my sister: "Can anybody fix the Philippines?" Judging by the lawless way all the vehicles on the road drove, it seemed that the country was beyond fixing. There was swerving, light-beating, cutting and what have you. Above all, public transpo gets my blood boiling. I just wonder what it takes to curb this behavior, short of taking a gun to these bufoons.
But none of these could have prepared me for what happened to me today.
The Accident
MARCOS HIWAY, Marikina City. I pass this route everyday on the way to school. There's nothing hard about it. Especially the Hi-way. It's free and straight driving all the way.
As a driver for 3 years and counting, I'd like to think I've seen it all. I've seen idiots pass themselves off as jeepney, FX and bus drivers. I've seen silly pedestrians who do not know when to cross. I've seen corrupt and inept policemen and was caught already once.
But nothing prepared me for the impact of an old man slamming onto the hood of the car, hitting the windshield and then rolling off onto the road. And I was behind the wheel.
Now, I don't consider myself a reckless driver. A little fast maybe, but never reckless. Since I love driving, I simply like to live up my time behind the wheel. It really gives me a high.
I was doing 60 kph along Marcos Hiway this morning. Nothing unorthodox considering it was a highway. As I was hurtling through, I noticed an old man walking across the street. He was quite far from me so I didn't slow down. This was also considering that there was a car following me.
Just to warn him of my arrival, I started laying my hand on the horn, letting out successive long blasts. With this, I also flashed him with my headlights. Instead of stopping to give way to the car, the all of a sudden darted toward the car. The moment I realized that he was very close, I slammed the breaks immediately. Too late. Too fucking late.
The man was hit by the car as it was already braking. Good thing I wasn't driving anything bigger. He hit the left area of the car, flew onto the hood and hit himself against the windshield. Then he rolled onto the ground. The impact caused the plate number cover of the car to fly off and the left area of the windshield sustained a spiderweb crack.
For the rest of my life, I will never forget that sound. The sound of car hitting body. All in that split second. It haunts you.
The man was conscious. My dad and I helped him to the road island (as I was driving on the leftmost area of the road). The man was "fine". No blood or guts were spilled. In fact, he was even coherent.
I am just thankful my dad knew how to handle the situation. I have this tendency of becoming a loose cannon when I'm in situations wherein I don't know what top do. In fact, it was rude of me but I was berating the old man on the way to the hospital.
We rushed him to the nearest hospital where a he was checked up. Apparently, the man is 69 years old and slightly senile. He was just babbling a lot. I, on the other hand, felt like a criminal with the guard making out a report and asking for details and my license. 4 x-rays of the man were done, as well as the cleaning of the 4 wounds he sustained.
One thing I am very thankful for is the fact that my dad was very, very understanding. He never blamed me and held me liable for the accident. He never even made sermon. In fact, he was even comforting me, which was what I really needed at that point. I was on on the verge of hysterics and honestly, I did not know how to conduct myself. My dad even told me that it wasn't a big deal and that sooner or later, I'd have to experience something like that.
The tests of the man were fine. His wounds were superficial and the x-rays didn't show anything. Just to protect ourselves from any legal claim, we took the man to a government hospital for a medico-legal certificate.
Another hospital, another report by another silly security guard. He even made me sign on the logbook, under "driver". Next to my name was the name of the old man and the title, "Victim".
Great- 20 years old and I have "victimized" somebody.
I can't help feeling sorry for the old man. He seemed like a drifter without a real home to go to. My relatives suspect he staged the whole thing to get money out of us.
At this point, the whole accident has yet to hit me. The gravity of the situation has to come crashing down on me because I haven't realized it yet.
The only reminder of him now is the huge crack on the windshield and the dent in my parent's wallets.
But the fact that I hit a living, breathing human being still has to hit me. To think I used to tell my friends that I can hit a person just not a dog. Now I hit a person.
The feeling just plain sucks. The bad part is, it's not a bad dream and you can't block it out no matter how hard you try.
It has already happened.
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