Driving in the Philippines, my impressions from a very Western perspective.....

Kat has asked me to drive her around from home to her clinics and hospital visits over the past two weeks as well as the occasional trip to go shopping or for a night out. Here are a few thoughts (or at least my early impressions of driving in the Philippines)

1. Contrary to rumour, there are indeed driving rules which are meant to be followed by the drivers, somewhat sporadically, the enforcement of the rules is patchy too (but then again, this is true in most countries, I have spent most of my adult life breaking or bending the rules) however policemen here have guns, so best to do what they say.
2. The roads are, in general, in relatively good condition; sure the edges are often unmade with quite  deep drop offs, but they are mostly better than those back in Surrey, UK.
3. In a manner not dissimilar to that found in many countries with strong religious convictions, there is an almost fatalistic approach to embarking on a journey, the completion of which is in the hands of God; whilst not quite to the extent of the Muslim "inshallah!" it is not far off.
4. As there is only a limited train network, many people commute by use of shuttle buses, or as Kat refers to them "Killer Busses", these, as the name suggests, are scary beasts, normally driven at well over the posted speed limit for such vehicles and often erratically, changing lanes in order to get wherever they are going quickly. These busses are on the whole best avoided, especially on the highway network, where they seem to hunt in packs often boxing in smaller, slower vehicles. 
5. At many road junctions which do not have traffic lights there is no clear indication of which road has precedence, and even if "Full Stop" markings are visible on the road, these are frequently ignored. In some places Traffic Enforcement Officers direct the flow of traffic, mostly for the good; where there are no TEOs, one would expect the 4 way stop principal to be used, which may be the intention, however it is more likely to be the case of a vehicular form of chicken, with the bravest winning out.....
6. To be a driver here you need to be telepathic, pscychic, prescient or at the very least be on constant guard for the vehicles around you to manoeuvre with little or no warning, either that or join in the madness and go with the flow.
7. There are, what I refer to as, zebra crossings, they serve no function, pedestrians do not have right of way on these road markings, and in fact are probably safer crossing elsewhere.
8. The flashing of headlights has the opposite meaning to that to which I am accustomed, rather than "I have seen you, please go ahead, I shall give way or yield" here it means "I have seen that you intend a manoeuvre, don't even think about it as I am coming through!!!
9. Lane discipline is dreadful, well to be honest, there is none really. Drivers turn left from the far right lane and vice-versa, switching lanes and undertaking are commonplace. 
10. Anticipation and planning ahead are not widely practiced, kamikaze lunges to cross multiple lanes as an expressway exit approaches are the norm, similarly for fuel stations, turning left or right etc. 
11. Motor-tricycles and jeepneys follow their own set of rules and stop, start and change direction with no warning, often with the driver not bothering to check what else is happening around them. Pedestrians act in a similar manner.
12. Speed limits, mostly totally ignored
13. Don't even get me started on the parking (although off-street the bays are generally quite generous), there is another benefit, you can, and do, park almost anywhere..
14. Lights on vehicles are, it seems optional; or at least turning them on at night seems to be
• It does not save electricity, not really
• I will not be dazzled if you switch them on, honestly
• Hiding in the shadows is a bad idea, I can't see you
• Identifying oncoming vehicles by the fact they obscure the lights from vehicles behind them is far from easy, this way of detecting things may work well of astronomers, but is not good for me, ramping up my stress levels.
• Having tinted windows that are dark enough to be used as welding goggles doesn't really help, although they are cool during the day
• Tail lights and indicators are often of non-standard colours, I have seen orange,red, green and blue indicators and blue, white and green tail lights
15. Although jeepneys, motor tricycles and the like are often decorated with many lights (spots, fogs, fairy and LED strips) somewhat like the mirrors that were on a Mod's scooter from the late '60s or early '70s, these are mostly not used because of 14 above.

                        

It seems that I have joined the asylum and am, according to Kat, driving like a true Pinoy. Having experienced driving here, I can now drive anywhere, although I am not ready to take on Dehli or Cairo just yet.