My Motor Vehicle Accident

[RBM]

15 hours ago, hk blues said:

My wife is about to start driving lessons here -

I expect to be revisiting this particular topic more often! 

Don't forget a big bucket of patience, went through this 6 months ago. As always the main issue is backing into a parking slot. 

Tip....buy or borrow a toy trike with steering wheel, put to mirrors on it and let her get into it. 

[Possum]

17 hours ago, hk blues said:

My wife is about to start driving lessons here -

My wife took driving lessons here years ago. The course she took was very good, lasted a few months because she only took one or two lessons a week. She is a good driver but won't drive unless absolutely necessary. She says,"It makes me nervous. I cannot drive around these people that don't know the rules and how to drive properly. Too much stress. I'm not like you, I don't consider driving among stupid people a form of entertainment."

Neither of us will drive without dash cam, front and rear.

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Greglm said:

My wife took driving lessons here years ago. The course she took was very good, lasted a few months because she only took one or two lessons a week. She is a good driver but won't drive unless absolutely necessary. She says,"It makes me nervous. I cannot drive around these people that don't know the rules and how to drive properly. Too much stress. I'm not like you, I don't consider driving among stupid people a form of entertainment."

Neither of us will drive without dash cam, front and rear.

At this time, we both agree that the car will be for convenience and not for every single trip out - let's see how that goes!  To be fair, unlike many who moved here, we have had 8 years of living without a car with little problem so I think it's possible we can stick to our plan.

[mountainside]

I'll follow the topic drift.  A few years ago my wife took driving lessons in the Phils and got to the point where she'd drive alone in SBFZ (but never outside the gate).  Here in the US she's had lessons from two different instructors.  They, and the gal who conducted her first US driver's license exam all agree that she's a competent driver -- a bit timid -- just needs time behind the wheel.

So now we'll soon be returning to the Phils.  Would she like to get some practice in, here in the US where driving conditions are easier?  No says she -- she knows her way around Cebu City and things will be easier there (!).  And she REALLY wants another car once we arrive.  So here's the deal (assuming I can hold firm):  she'll rent a car in Cebu City and be the only one to drive it.  If and when she's OK with being the only family driver, we'll get her a car in the color of her choice.  I guess the cost of a car could pay for a whole lot of public transportation, but I secretly want a car too.  And a driver I get along with. 

[BLM]

The AC is the major selling point for a personal car over public transportation. The wife and I used jeepneys our first year here while we went to school, but the dust, exhaust and heat was intolerable. Stuck in traffic with 20 other people in the back of a jeepney with no wind on a summer day is torture. 

I taught her using the long road around the Cubi Pt. airport in a little Alto 800 with a manual transmission. An air conditioned box on little wheels. Now it's an automatic in a Celerio, good in traffic and stable on the highway. A small car is a big plus in traffic and parking. The cabin air filter gets changed when needed also.

Yesterday we were in a crash, very minor yet drew a crowd. One of those 3 wheeled motorcycles that delivers water was left in neutral and rolled out into the street with no driver. My driver (wife) had stopped but it bumped into us. Right by the Barangay hall. I sat in the AC and didn't do anything. I know how it works over here. If I was driving, it would have been blamed on a ghost! After 10 minutes she decided to let it go, just a scratched headlight.  

[Lee]

39 minutes ago, BLM said:

The wife and I used jeepneys our first year here while we went to school, but the dust, exhaust and heat was intolerable. Stuck in traffic with 20 other people in the back of a jeepney with no wind on a summer day is torture. 

IMO jeepneys are intolerable.

20 years ago I would get on a jeepney with the wife and the driver would start arguing with her demanding that I pay twice the fare as I'm twice the size of his usual passenger. Also due to my height, while traveling I could never keep up with our location as the side windows were well below my head.

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, mountainside said:

Would she like to get some practice in, here in the US where driving conditions are easier?  No says she -- she knows her way around Cebu City and things will be easier there (!).

Wow she is in for a rude surprise.  I drove for over 40 years in the USA.  Driving here, especially in Cebu City is far far worse than anything I ever experienced in the US.

[mountainside]

16 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Wow she is in for a rude surprise.

Thing is, she's lived and had her driving lessons in Cebu City.  I think she honestly believes she'll like driving there better than here in the US.  We'll see . . .  As for me, I'm completely with you -- the conditions there and here ain't even close.

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 hours ago, Lee said:

IMO jeepneys are intolerable.

Well, at least here in Cebu City you can choose to get into a nice modern jeepney with ac and all the bells and whistles. Gone are the bad old days. Rarely see an old jeepney in my area. 

[GeoffH]

46 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Well, at least here in Cebu City you can choose to get into a nice modern jeepney with ac and all the bells and whistles. Gone are the bad old days. Rarely see an old jeepney in my area. 

 

I wouldn't call the new AC equipped PUVs 'jeepneys'... they're buses (because there is zero relationship, even styling, to the old WW2 jeeps).

Unless you're getting long bonnet, jeep 'styled', sealed and AC equipped ones out of an existing Jeepney maker?

Edited May 5, 2023 by GeoffH