How Many Expats Drive ? Your Pros And Cons

[Tukaram (Tim)]

One of the weirdest things I have seen here in Iloilo was a foreigner driving a jeepney!  He really went native ha ha.

 

Our main road out here is the Iloilo=Antique highway.  A 2 lane road that is driven like it has 5 lanes - 3 lanes each way, and they share the middle lane.  There is no way I would drive anything out here!   :tiphat:

[jpbago]

Something strange we saw recently is that at the major pedestrian crossroad in town, the traffic cops are making bicycle riders get off and walk their bikes!  That may have been a trial and I am not sure if they are still doing it.

 

That is a law in some countries. The sign says dismount.

[Dave Hounddriver]

My wife wants to drive there, and maybe.. that will be enough.

 

Hey Bill.  A friend of mine who is also named Bill just went through 8 days of hell because his wife wanted to drive here.  He bought her a motorcycle and she learned to drive it.  He drives an SUV but you know, we try to keep the wives happy.

 

Anyway, to keep it short, someone wandered in front of Bill's wife's motorcycle and she hit him.  Police did not arrest her, just insisted that she accompany the fellow to the hospital and pay all the bills and stay there until the fellow got out of hospital in case any bills needed to be paid and they would decide whether to charge her depending how it all turned out.  Guess who paid for all this?  Right first guess.

 

Anyway, his wife is back home now.  The fellow is out of hospital and will hopefully be ok.  All is well again but I have not asked bill how much it cost him as I don't want to stir it.

 

Bottom line:  There is no safe way regardless of who is driving so if you are a fantastic driver you just may be the best one to drive.  If you are not that confident then hire a driver.  For the best result have no vehicle at all and contract a hire-a-car service (not always easy to find a good one and not usually cheap).  For me, I drive and hope for the best.  PS:  There are some good insurance companies here to cover these kinds of emergencies but they cost you.

 

EDIT:  I forgot to mention that Bill's wife may have faced jail time as a worst case scenario but as the owner of the vehicle you are liked to get hurt financially but it is rare to end up in jail if you are not the driver.

Edited July 22, 2013 by Dave Hounddriver

[Mike S]

Damn .... I guess I'm the only one that doesn't mind driving ... well maybe OMW and papa Carl exception ..... sense we moved to Bacolod I don't mind driving at all ...... well let me just say we have found all the drive arounds and we don't drive down town Araneta or Lacson or central market ..... everything else is fair game ..... you can go from north to south and vise versa with out ever going down town .... a bit longer but much less traffic ..... just take the Circumferential road it runs from Alijis to the fly-over going to Silay ..... and back ... you bypass the whole downtown nightmare .... actually it isn't to bad if you stay away from both the downtown plasa and the central market ..... it gets pretty wild there .... and be advised we have several one way streets here in Bacolod in the downtown area .... but if you buy a map in National Book Store you can navigate pretty well on your own ....

 

We go south every now and then to visit my asawa's family out in the province near Pontevedra ..... we enjoy the drive now that they have the road fairly well widened and  re-surfaced ..... just have to watch out for the Ceres buses that usually travel in 3's at a high rate of speed and then there are the rickety rackety baby buses that are in danger of falling apart at anytime and they drive like bats out-a-hell ....

 

I have lived in some big cities in the US like Washington DC .... Orlando Fl. .... Atlanta Ga. and Ft. Lauderdale (I drove an 18 wheeler in down town Dallas/Ft Worth for almost 2 years .... now that was an experience .... :hystery: ) ...... just to name a few and with the exception of maybe traffic lights and road signs (they steal metal signs here) I find the driving in any US major city to be pretty much the same as here ..... but at least here you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder to see if there is a cop behind you ...... here ... they just don't have any .... except under shade trees ..... :mocking: :mocking:  ... anyway JMHO .... :thumbsup:

 

Some said something about 4 lane roads .... yup they have them here but the 2 outside lanes of a PUBLIC road are used for parking vehicles ..... working on vehicles ... changing tires at the vulcanizing shop .... drying rice ... drying fire wood .... walking your carabow ..... putting up a couple of tables with some chairs to drink tuba and play cards with your friends and last but not least a jim dandy place to stop and pee ....  :dance:

:cheersty:

Edited July 22, 2013 by Mike S

[Steve & Myrlita]

I drive almost everyday.

[jon1]

I drive all of the time (to include a motorcycle). I used to drive in Manila but no more. My blood pressure can't take it. I will hire a driver to go to any Manila trips (only when I absolutely have to go there). 

 

To me the price of freedom and independence overrides the worry of an accident or having to pay for someone's hospital bill (I have full coverage insurance for that, 100,000p coverage for the Other party). I drive cautiously especially on the 2 lane highways that criss cross this lovely country, on the lookout for animals, unannounced U-turning trikes, jeepneys without brake lights, pedestrians, rice drying, etc. 

 

I have driven on all of the major islands and it is an exhilarating experience.

[MikeB]

To me the price of freedom and independence overrides the worry of an accident or having to pay for someone's hospital bill (I have full coverage insurance for that, 100,000p coverage for the Other party). I drive cautiously especially on the 2 lane highways that criss cross this lovely country, on the lookout for animals, unannounced U-turning trikes, jeepneys without brake lights, pedestrians, rice drying, etc.  I have driven on all of the major islands and it is an exhilarating experience.

I was having an exhilarating ride on a motorbike 2 years ago and a speeding dump truck came around a blind curve and into oncoming traffic and almost killed me, happened so fast I didn't have time to react. But up to the moment of impact I was having a great time. The p100k Compulsory Third Party Liability will only go so far in an accident like that but it's good you have it. Even though it's required to renew your registration, I suspect a lot of vehicles don't. I upped mine to 400k with private insurance and it's still potentially way short. 

[jon1]

 

To me the price of freedom and independence overrides the worry of an accident or having to pay for someone's hospital bill (I have full coverage insurance for that, 100,000p coverage for the Other party). I drive cautiously especially on the 2 lane highways that criss cross this lovely country, on the lookout for animals, unannounced U-turning trikes, jeepneys without brake lights, pedestrians, rice drying, etc.  I have driven on all of the major islands and it is an exhilarating experience.

I was having an exhilarating ride on a motorbike 2 years ago and a speeding dump truck came around a blind curve and into oncoming traffic and almost killed me, happened so fast I didn't have time to react. But up to the moment of impact I was having a great time. The p100k Compulsory Third Party Liability will only go so far in an accident like that but it's good you have it. Even though it's required to renew your registration, I suspect a lot of vehicles don't. I upped mine to 400k with private insurance and it's still potentially way short. 

 

Yes I have the same. I have a private insurance policy and am not relying on the compulsary insurance. I doubt 90% have any add on insurance protection.

 

The blind curves can be murderous, you have to always assume someone is coming at you in your lane. A motorcycle definitely has a disadvantage in avoidance options. You always have to assume that they are all out to get you when you are on your bike. 

[Thomas]

100,000p coverage for the Other party)

I upped mine to 400k

How high fees per year?

[jon1]

 

100,000p coverage for the Other party)

 

I upped mine to 400k

How high fees per year?

 

I think I am paying around 20,000p/year. That gives me Act of God (covers natural disasters, fire, etc.), theft (up to 400,000p value of vehicle) and the previously mentioned Hospitalization/Death Insurance.