Riding motorcycle is a risky business
Negotiating the road, even with a four-wheel vehicle is risky enough. Much more if you are riding a two-wheeled vehicle – like a scooter or a motorcycle which I have been using for the past several months. It’s a Honda Wave 100, payment of which I took over from my younger brother who decided that he’ll never ride a motorcycle again after a minor accident back home in Cavite. I can’t blame him. Last Tuesday, April 29, I figured in another accident. Many of the accidents I figured in for the past months are not as serious as this one. Thanks to my helmet, I’m still alive and still blogging. He he he. Well, what can I say? I’ve figured in several accidents before. I have nine stitches on my left thigh, severed knees (it means both knees), hit my head with helmets on several times, and burned my right thigh by the steaming hot muffler, among others. The latest was, well, a little more exciting. It happened between 9 am to 9:30 a.m. (Exactly, I clocked it at 9:15) in front of the main entrance of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center along North Avenue, Quezon City.
I was on my way to work (actually, I was on my way to the Land Transportation Office to renew the motorcycle’s registration, its plate number ending in 5) and was traversing North Avenue when a taxi cab cut my path. I was running at a speed of 50 kph and was about five to seven meters away when I noticed the taxi in front of me. It came from a training center just across the main entrance of the hospital. How stupid of him to cross North Avenue, a major thoroughfare, when in fact he knew the vehicles were fast moving towards Quezon Circle. We have the green light, by the way.Quick thinking on my part, perhaps, saved me from more serious injuries, if not death, as well as other motorists. Had I avoided the taxi, I would have hit another motorcycle rider on my right… Had I turned left, I would have hit the taxi’s front nevertheless, or be hit by the taxi myself, because the taxi was still moving when I hit it. So what I did was stepped on the break hard and strong but still, I hit the taxi. Because of the impact, I flew and rolled over the taxi’s compartment then fell on the concrete road. I was able to stand up quickly and avoid incoming vehicles. Checked myself up and decided I wasn’t seriously injured. All that I suffered from were abrasions and bruises on the left leg and thigh. Not to worry. My very reliable motorcycle was the one that suffered the most… When I checked, its front was badly damaged. I believe the wheel needs re-alignment and the body cover, well, needs replacement. I also need to have the breaks repaired, as well as the steering wheel, if I may call it that. It took me and the driver of the taxi more than two hours waiting for traffic policemen to arrive and investigate what happened but to no avail. They never came. An MMDA traffic enforcer came by and drew a sketch of the accident. I wasn’t about to let them haul my motorcycle yet despite the traffic the accident was causing along North Avenue, because I wasn’t sure that’s the right procedure. In my experience as a journalist, the traffic enforcer should be the one doing the sketching and investigating. Anyway, some of the traffic policemen’s “boys” went over to take pictures and so I agreed that we proceed to the traffic sector 6 in QC which has the jurisdiction.
Does it mean I'm quitting motorcycle riding? Definitely.... NOT. Imagine the traffic and the skyrocketing bus and jeepney fare? Imagine how much you're going to save when you ride a motorcycle than take a taxi? And imagine the time and effort you save when you get yourself stocked into traffic which Metro Manila is notorious for nowadays?"
And the accident? Well, it’s just another day for a pusang gala like me. Everyday is an adventure. Everyday is a learning experience. And this one, I will definitely remember well. By the way, I’m pursuing charges against the driver. He doesn’t deserve a driver’s license. Moreso, he doesn’t deserver a professional driver’s license.
Negotiating the road, even with a four-wheel vehicle is risky enough. Much more if you are riding a two-wheeled vehicle – like a scooter or a motorcycle which I have been using for the past several months. It’s a Honda Wave 100, payment of which I took over from my younger brother who decided that he’ll never ride a motorcycle again after a minor accident back home in Cavite. I can’t blame him. Last Tuesday, April 29, I figured in another accident. Many of the accidents I figured in for the past months are not as serious as this one. Thanks to my helmet, I’m still alive and still blogging. He he he. Well, what can I say? I’ve figured in several accidents before. I have nine stitches on my left thigh, severed knees (it means both knees), hit my head with helmets on several times, and burned my right thigh by the steaming hot muffler, among others. The latest was, well, a little more exciting. It happened between 9 am to 9:30 a.m. (Exactly, I clocked it at 9:15) in front of the main entrance of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center along North Avenue, Quezon City.
I was on my way to work (actually, I was on my way to the Land Transportation Office to renew the motorcycle’s registration, its plate number ending in 5) and was traversing North Avenue when a taxi cab cut my path. I was running at a speed of 50 kph and was about five to seven meters away when I noticed the taxi in front of me. It came from a training center just across the main entrance of the hospital. How stupid of him to cross North Avenue, a major thoroughfare, when in fact he knew the vehicles were fast moving towards Quezon Circle. We have the green light, by the way.Quick thinking on my part, perhaps, saved me from more serious injuries, if not death, as well as other motorists. Had I avoided the taxi, I would have hit another motorcycle rider on my right… Had I turned left, I would have hit the taxi’s front nevertheless, or be hit by the taxi myself, because the taxi was still moving when I hit it. So what I did was stepped on the break hard and strong but still, I hit the taxi. Because of the impact, I flew and rolled over the taxi’s compartment then fell on the concrete road. I was able to stand up quickly and avoid incoming vehicles. Checked myself up and decided I wasn’t seriously injured. All that I suffered from were abrasions and bruises on the left leg and thigh. Not to worry. My very reliable motorcycle was the one that suffered the most… When I checked, its front was badly damaged. I believe the wheel needs re-alignment and the body cover, well, needs replacement. I also need to have the breaks repaired, as well as the steering wheel, if I may call it that. It took me and the driver of the taxi more than two hours waiting for traffic policemen to arrive and investigate what happened but to no avail. They never came. An MMDA traffic enforcer came by and drew a sketch of the accident. I wasn’t about to let them haul my motorcycle yet despite the traffic the accident was causing along North Avenue, because I wasn’t sure that’s the right procedure. In my experience as a journalist, the traffic enforcer should be the one doing the sketching and investigating. Anyway, some of the traffic policemen’s “boys” went over to take pictures and so I agreed that we proceed to the traffic sector 6 in QC which has the jurisdiction.Does it mean I'm quitting motorcycle riding? Definitely.... NOT. Imagine the traffic and the skyrocketing bus and jeepney fare? Imagine how much you're going to save when you ride a motorcycle than take a taxi? And imagine the time and effort you save when you get yourself stocked into traffic which Metro Manila is notorious for nowadays?"
And the accident? Well, it’s just another day for a pusang gala like me. Everyday is an adventure. Everyday is a learning experience. And this one, I will definitely remember well. By the way, I’m pursuing charges against the driver. He doesn’t deserve a driver’s license. Moreso, he doesn’t deserver a professional driver’s license.
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