my car, broadsided

On my way home, one Saturday night, I was sitting through the Manila-bound moderately heavy traffic jam along the national highway in Pansol, Calamba. This situation is quite normal during this time of the year because a lot of people troop to the swimming pools and the resorts in an attempt to cool down. 

What wasn't typical this particular Saturday night was the freak accident that I figured into.

Basically, the driver's side of my car took the brunt of the impact; since the other vehicle had passed beyond my line of sight (I was looking in front, as typical drivers do when they wait for the cars in front to move), I didn't see the actual collision. The strength of the impact shook the car enough to make me feel that I was riding The Rialto. The reflection on my left side mirror showed people being thrown off a tricycle behind my car.

Concerned that the passengers were injured, I got off the car, locked it, and then checked if anyone needed help. The barangay tanods instructed me to file a report straightaway. They would take care of getting the details of the tricycle driver and of what happened on the road, they said. So I went back to my car. That's when I saw the HOLES on the doors on the driver's side. I was shocked! According to the subsequent police investigation (off-site, since I was instructed to clear out of the road by the tanods due to the traffic situation), the tricycle was Los Banos-bound when it hit my car. The tanods failed to catch the driver and they mentioned that the tricycle didn't have a plate number. 

*Sigh.*

Here's a look at the damage to my car before I had the holes covered up (to protect against the rain). I took them at home the following day.

hole and scratches on the left passenger door

hole and scratches on the driver's door

In retrospect, I am thankful that the damage wasn't as bad as what is normally seen when a car, being driven on clear roads, hit another car on the side. If a larger vehicle, or a speeding one, had hit my car, I surely would have seen something worse.

To all drivers out on the roads, stay safe. And keep OTHER MOTORISTS safe as well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

Image
On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Read more