Driving in the Philippines
Well, as i'm sure a lot of you might have guessed. driving in the Philippines is quite different from the west. The driving style is very defensive, expect people to cut you off and expect just about anything that doesn't follow the rules in your own country to happen! Prepare for big traffic jams in some places and probably lots more pollution and noise than you are used to.Thats why use extra caution when driving, not only are there lots of cars on the road, but you'll see a lot of other strange and wonderful vehicles, such as jeepneys, tricycles (motorcycles carrying a passenger in a sidecar) and various other modified bikes, motorbikes and even horses (calesas).
Driving updates:
In the past 2 years, I noticed a lot of strange things in the Philippines when it comes to driving. Two of those things are now classified as illegal since President Noy-Noy declared that the existing law will now be fully enforced.These 2 things are:
Use of Sirens on non-police vehicles to get through traffic (known as wack-wack, the sound of the siren)The second one is counterflowing traffic, basically driving on the other side of the road.
Of course not only are these both unfair to other drivers, but they are dangerous too. In the case of the sirens if people don't know who the Police are, Meaning they aren't going to bother moving when there is an emergency such as an ambulance trying to get through with a sick patient in the back. Crossing onto the other road speaks for itself, as you can imagine the possibility of head on collisions is a big factor.
Luckily this seems to be reduced now and the road is a little quieter.
Rules of the road:
Driving rules are generally the same as the US such as turning right when the lights are red. The Philippines drive on the right side of the road also.If you're a foriegner wanting to drive you'll need an international drivin license, but when living here for a while you'll need to goto the LTO (land transport office) and get a filipino driving license, which you can easily get by providing your original license and undergoing a drugs test.
Factors in driving:
The key skills are patience, not taking things such as beeping too seriously and one essential item is air-conditioning (it gets really hot most days, especially sat in traffic)!Beeping/Using the horn:
Well people will beep at you for just about anything, to tell you to go, to tell you they are overtaking, out of anger because you cut them off, to pick up passengers (taxi/jeepneys) or in some cases I can't even determine the reason. Me and my friend actually timed how many seconds between hearing a beep on the road and hearing the next beep, we never once got past 30 seconds.The horn is a valuable tool in the Philippines, since it seems people don't use their wing mirrors much. Using the horn can prevent a collision if you are overtaking. Its a strong contrast to the UK where I'm used to hearing a horn about once or twice a day.
Bearing this in mind, remember also if you're looking for property in the city, might be a good idea to look for one away from the main roads to avoid being woken up all night (Aside from horns, a lot of engines are really loud especially tricycles). So if you're a heavy sleeper like me, you've got an advantage here!
Cutting off:
Try driving here and no sooner have you set off on the road, someone will try to cut you off. Its not that this driver is trying to annoy you, this just really is the way things work in the Philippines. Hesitate in a traffic jam and i'm sure that a jeepney, taxi or car will be turning across your path into the empty space.Well this is just a little bit of information about driving here, remember always be safe and wear a seatbely. Speeding is not recommended, especially in places where there are lots of pedestrians and very few real crossings available.
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