Lockdown driving: A test of will
It was both a boon and a bane that media folks like me have been allowed to work and given a chance to get out of the house during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) – a boon because I was lucky not to be entirely stuck at home during the lockdown, and also a bane because traveling the streets through ECQ was a test on my composure with many new factors which have not been present in my former driving experience around the metro.
During the first few days of ECQ, armed with my IATF-issued ID and face mask, I breezed through clear streets and made it to and from the Daily Tribune office in record time. It usually takes me 30 minutes to drive to work and around an hour going home, but the absence of cars, taxis, jeepneys, and buses on the road allowed me the trip in significantly less time than before. That was one of the good things that the lockdown has allowed. It brought me back to days when I could easily predict my travel time and enjoy a more leisurely ride.
While clear streets were a good thing, it was a bit disconcerting to see which were the other fourwheeled vehicles left on the road and allowed to travel during ECQ. With a quick check, the usual fare is comprised of shuttle services for frontliners and other essential industries, small vans bearing signs that they are carrying alcohol or perishable food, and the more common sight of ambulances and DRRMO vans.
Seeing ambulances always sends a wave of panic through me, even more so during the pandemic because
I would always imagine it would be conveying a possibly infected coronavirus case or a patient in need of critical care who has no other recourse than to go to the hospital. A glimpse of the ambulance staff, clad in complete PPE gear from head to foot, doesn’t help to ease my fears. I would usually just say a short prayer of recovery for whoever is riding the large, lighted vans along the emergency route.
Driving through ECQ, I also had to contend with having more twowheeled vehicles sharing the road with me. Seeing more bikes, scooters, and motorcycles in the streets makes me feel like I am driving through Ho Chi Minh instead of Metro Manila. Being a cycling aficionado myself, I would usually give way to struggling riders who seem to just be learning, or even re-learning, how to balance on two wheels and climb uphill roads.
If I am feeling impatient behind a really slow rider, I would always go back to thinking that the rider probably had no other option given that public transportation was barred during the lockdown.
Motorcycle riders were another thing. I used to loathe seeing too much daredevil riders weaving through traffic and disregarding traffic rules pre-COVID. But given these extraordinary conditions, I learned to be extra patient with them, especially on food delivery riders because I also became much dependent on their services during the lockdown as no restaurant would offer dine-in services at that time.
The bottomline is that the pandemic has really given a different flavor of the “new normal” on the road. Two-wheeled vehicles seem to be here to stay as there does not seem to be any clarity on the return of jeepneys and UV Express vehicles, and people will definitely be looking for other alternative ways to get them to where they need to be going. More new age frontliners are taking on the road with two wheels and we have to learn to be more patient with them.
I am just thankful to have been able to get to work safely and gain a renewed patience for others on the road since the pandemic has affected all of us motorists, two wheels or more.
Seeing ambulances always sends a wave of panic because I would always imagine it would be conveying a possibly infected coronavirus case or a patient in need of critical care who has no other recourse than to go to the hospital Seeing more bikes, scooters, and motorcycles in the streets makes me feel like I am driving through Ho Chi Minh instead of Metro Manila