Of ghosts, ghouls and other night-time dangers

MANILA, Philippines - There are many reasons to be afraid of the dark... and one of them is that auto accident fatality rates are three times higher at night, than during the day. Yes,  there are many elements that make night driving significantly more challenging—like reduced vision (compromised depth perception and peripheral vision), exposure to glaring lights, and nighttime drowsiness, to name a few. Yet its risks always seem to be generally taken for granted. It was therefore, a very timely and relevant topic for Ford Philippines to tackle during a Spooky Drive held for the media just this Halloween season.

Our spine-chilling Spooky Drive was an exciting visit to three of Metro Manila’s spookiest places: the Manila Film Center, Manila City Hall and the Ruins of St. Ignatius in Intramuros—onboard the all-new Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta. There, we were asked to take our spookiest photos with the cars, which were later uploaded in Ford Philippines’ Facebook page and subject to public voting via “likes.” My partner was Sheng Banzon of Top Gear Philippines, and I am proud to say that we came up with the most hair-raising and most-liked photographs of the batch.

“Ford always puts safety in the forefront when it comes to our vehicles,” said Anika Salceda-Wycoco, AVP for Communications of Ford Group Philippines. “With the all-new Focus and the all-new Fiesta, both are designed using quality materials and the latest technology to ensure the utmost safety for the passenger,” she explained.

Our Spooky Drive was an excellent demonstration of the impressive safety features that the Ford Focus and Fiesta has to offer, as we were allowed to communicate with each other via mobile phones while driving—but hands-free using the voice-controlled Ford SYNC technology of the Focus, or the first-in-class Bluetooth connectivity system with voice control of the Ford Fiesta.

The Ford Focus Titanium+ also came with a handy Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) that uses radar sensors on both sides of the car to alert the driver of any vehicles that may be hidden in its blind spot. All this, while our car stereos played spooky music (soundtracks from The Exorcist, Thriller, and Ghostbusters—“I’m afraid of no ghosts!”) as we sailed through the streets of the busy Metro, en route to our eerie destinations.

Do you know the difference between a ghost and a ghoul? Ghosts are widely considered to be the wandering souls of the dead, as depicted in our first photo taken at the Manila Film Center, with me posing as a tourist alongside the red Focus, while a white lady appears in the background... Awooo!

Meanwhile, a ghoul is a creature that eats both stolen corpses and children. It is implied in our second photo, as my dead body hangs out of the blue Fiesta while parked in front of the Manila City Hall. By the way, this City Hall from the top view, looks like a coffin. Feeling squirmy yet?

Nevertheless, the real dangers lie not in ghost- or ghoul-spotting, but in nighttime driving! Which is why the Ford Focus and Fiesta take pride in their smart technologies that aid their occpuants on a nighttime ride. Being visible to others, on top of simply being able to see while driving, is also crucial to nighttime safety. And this is why the Focus’ auto-headlamps come in very handy—they have an optical sensor to detect when headlamps are already required, so you never forget to turn on your lights even when the roads look well-lighted outside. The headlamps themselves are real nice too, as they make use of Bi-Xenon HID lamps which shine brighter but consume less power. Equally clever is the Focus’ auto-dimming rear-view mirror that can switch to a dimmed setting by itself when it detects headlight glare, so you’re not blinded by high beams from behind.

Furthermore, the Ford Fiesta’s structure has more than 55-percent high-strength steel using formidable boron steel to reinforce key points in the car. Or perhaps you could avoid that low-speed collision altogether, with the Ford Focus’ Active City Stop that automatically applies the brakes when it detects a low-speed collision to be imminent (at 30 kms/hr or less), and gives the driver a few seconds to recover and take control of the brakes afterwards. 

And if you’re still afraid of ghosts and ghouls, you can count on the Ford Focus’ Follow-Me-Home light to illuminate your way to your doorstep for about 30 seconds from the time the last door is closed. And heaven forbid, should you spot any of these freaky supernatural creatures nearby, you can still lose no time and run and instantly jump back into your car with its smart keyless entry! No fumbling with the keys, like in horror movies. With the Ford Focus and Fiesta, there is less reason to fear the dark.