Ems was hit by a car tyesterday

[Arizona Kid]

And the bicyclist don't even look before they swerve into traffic. It's like they hope they get hit so they can collect some insurance money!

[Gary D]

And the ninja tricycle appearing out of the gloom in front of you.

[davewe]

Driving, like so many things, is absolutely, positively cultural. I remember going to Vietnam some years ago. My buddy told me to watch out for motor bikes that drove on the sidewalks. I assumed he was exaggerating. Sure enough the first day I am waiting on the sidewalk for a traffic light to walk across the street when a motor cycle zoomed behind me. For the next week I developed eyes in the back of my head to look out for cycles behind me on the sidewalks. What was weird was that within a few days I had adjusted and gotten completely used to it; survival instinct I suppose.

The same was true when I lived in New York City as a student. Absolutely the most insane drivers and pedestrians in the world. Some of the things I witnessed on the roads of NYC have been indelibly etched in my brain. But New Yorkers thought their behaviour was perfectly normal.

What I find more strange than Filipino driving habits is how so many foreigners have adjusted and do the same thing. A while back, out of curiousity I spent an hour or two counting motorcycle drivers and how many were wearing their helmets. The end result? 5% of Filipinos were wearing helmets - 95% were not obeying the law. 12% of foreigners were wearing helmets. These were people from cultures where helmet laws are enforced and who in most cases can afford a good helmet. Yet 88% of those people on that particular day were not wearing a helmet. So I'm a bit cynical about foreigners complaining about Filipino driving habits. We're better, but not as good as we think we are.

In short I assume everyone's a lousy driver and act accordingly.

Glad your wife's doing OK!

 

[Gator]

22 hours ago, stevewool said:

........in the meantime not one person intervened or helped ‘ maybe if there was blood or death they would have been out with the mobile phones........

Anyway like I said Emma is ok and that’s the most important thing.

Glad Emma is ok!

It’s my understanding that there’s no Good Samaritan law here, which indemnifies the person  helping. Just the opposite - help a victim and you become responsible for them and their bill for treatment. So don’t expect help and as harsh as it sounds, don’t give it. 
 

And as you said - the most important thing is that your wife is alright! 

[earthdome]

Glad to  here that Ems is ok. I can understand your reaction but Ems was trying to help you by pulling you away from the confrontation. Nothing good could come from it.

[Viking]

23 hours ago, Gator said:

 

It’s my understanding that there’s no Good Samaritan law here, which indemnifies the person  helping. Just the opposite - help a victim and you become responsible for them and their bill for treatment. So don’t expect help and as harsh as it sounds, don’t give it. 
 

I have read about this before and it´s apparently very easy to get the blame if you try to help someone, and it don´t work out as you expected. If they die, you can get accused for giving "wrong" help, especially if you are a "rich foreigner". This is so different from how most of us want to react but I guess it is best to accept how things are done here if we want to stay out of trouble. 

[graham59]

Best to keep a low profile here at all times guys !  

 

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[Arizona Kid]

You need to get Emma under control..sounds like she is running wild!