I hate motorcycles! Ok it's really the motorcycle drivers I hate. They're all crazy maniacs if you ask me.
Lately, Manila has been experiencing a spurt of this form of transportation. Blame it to better financing schemes offered by the distibutors where one only needs a P2000 downpayment and a monthly installment of P300 and you're a proud owner. And so, more and more motorcylces have mushroomed in the streets of Metro Manila the last couple of years.
Blame it also on ignorance (and the LTO's inability to educate vehicle drivers) that these motorcycle drivers don't think (or don't know) that there are actually traffic rules and regulations for them on the road. And so you always find a motorcycle:(1) criss-crossing between cars to get ahead
(2) over-taking using the 1-2ft of space from the pavement that a car usually leaves when it is on the right most lane; i've had several near misses making a right turn just because these motorcyles are trying to zip by on your right
(3) if it's really traffic, you find them riding over the sidewalk where only predestrians should be
(4) they practically ignore traffic rules and regulations, usually crossing red lights or turning left when there is a no-left-turn sign whenever they feel like it
(5) they carry more than one additional adult passenger whenever the need arises even having an entire family of four with kids and babies between two adults.
Hence the increase in accidents involving motorcyles on the road.
My recent visit to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam has cemented this hatred for motorcycles. Though there seems to be an attempt to keep the motorcycles on the right side of the road, the sheer volume and the distance these motorcycles keep from larger vehicles make everything so chaotic. Oh, interestingly you've got all sorts of people on motorcycles, from young adult males to older men and half of them even women in skirts and high-heels. I may be exaggerating when I say this but it did feel like there were 10million motorcycles on the road at any given point in time.
Lately, Manila has been experiencing a spurt of this form of transportation. Blame it to better financing schemes offered by the distibutors where one only needs a P2000 downpayment and a monthly installment of P300 and you're a proud owner. And so, more and more motorcylces have mushroomed in the streets of Metro Manila the last couple of years.
Blame it also on ignorance (and the LTO's inability to educate vehicle drivers) that these motorcycle drivers don't think (or don't know) that there are actually traffic rules and regulations for them on the road. And so you always find a motorcycle:(1) criss-crossing between cars to get ahead
(2) over-taking using the 1-2ft of space from the pavement that a car usually leaves when it is on the right most lane; i've had several near misses making a right turn just because these motorcyles are trying to zip by on your right
(3) if it's really traffic, you find them riding over the sidewalk where only predestrians should be
(4) they practically ignore traffic rules and regulations, usually crossing red lights or turning left when there is a no-left-turn sign whenever they feel like it
(5) they carry more than one additional adult passenger whenever the need arises even having an entire family of four with kids and babies between two adults.
Hence the increase in accidents involving motorcyles on the road.
My recent visit to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam has cemented this hatred for motorcycles. Though there seems to be an attempt to keep the motorcycles on the right side of the road, the sheer volume and the distance these motorcycles keep from larger vehicles make everything so chaotic. Oh, interestingly you've got all sorts of people on motorcycles, from young adult males to older men and half of them even women in skirts and high-heels. I may be exaggerating when I say this but it did feel like there were 10million motorcycles on the road at any given point in time.
I really hope that Metro Manila streets don't end up this way.
