Driving in the Metro

As I write this column I recall what it was like to write my first column many years ago for the first newspaper I worked for.

Yes, it was a motoring column.

I remember how excited I was to have been given the chance to write about cars. I started working for The Manila Times in 1996. It was the year after my father passed away. My dad loved cars. And it was because of him that my fondness for all things cars began.

So,when I turned 51 a few weeks ago and I was asked if I would like to write a column here, it was a great birthday gift.

So, what do old women drivers like me know about cars?

For starters what I do know is what I hate about drivers in the streets of Manila.

Let’s start with the all so inconsiderate motorcycle drivers. The ones who glance at the driver of the car first, and then seeing it’s a little old lady like me, instinctively cut me thinking I would stop for rude men on small bikes.

Not this little old lady. I have been driving since I was in my teens and ain’t no way some rude motorcycle driver is going to get ahead of me—by being rude.

That goes for bus drives, taxi drivers and car drivers who think that all women are afraid of gitgitan.

If you bump that guy on the motorbike it’s going to be your fault,” a well-meaning passenger friend said to me once.

“I won’t bump him, but I will show him that we little old ladies can’t be pushed around,” I laughed.

Just the other night I was listening to a radio program where the guest for the evening was a reconstructive surgery doctor.

He said that in the recent past he has had at least one motorcycle driver in every week.

I guess that’s because there are so many of them on the street. And my theory is that these drivers think that their little motorcycles are as big as dump trucks.

I just get really peeved when these drivers think they can get away with bad driving habits and rude behavior because women are more likely to give way.

Babae  kasi nagmamaneho is usually what men drivers say when a driver is taking too long trying to cross an intersection or when one is driving too slowly or when one takes a wrong overtaking choice.

Yes, I have heard that often enough as a passenger of a male-driven vehicle.

My response?

Different strokes for different folks. Just like in anything else in life, a man may have a different way of dealing with a situation than a woman might.

So what’s the point of all this?

Simply this— a good driver is a good driver whether woman or man. After all, good driving skills know no gender.