Sigh... just wanna share the shocking experience I've ever had in my entire driving life...

Sleeping as early as 7PM last night, I woke up at 5AM today being fully aware that I need to be strict on time allowances for the day (family day & my mother celebrated her birthday yesterday) because I'd have to go home to Pampanga.

So I woke my sister, fetched my girlfriend, and we're on our way. Knowing that it would be an easy-on-the-foot ride (considering the allowance I alloted and the time=no traffic), I just drove on a constant 60km/hr (IIRC the legal slowest speed in highways here) all the way.

Now, as we were cruising through EDSA-Santolan (Northbound) around 630AM, raining and all, I was on the middle lane when I noticed this Toyota Corolla Taxi with plate no. PXT-910 approaching fast on the rightmost lane via my passenger side mirror. I didn't mind it expecting that it's just another "barumbado" type of taxi when finally it reached my right side of the vehicle. During that quick moment in time, I noticed that his way of cutting through my lane was seemingly in a form of a drift, so I quickly decreased my speed, and p*cha ayun pumunta sa harap ko mismo na ung front nya eh nakaharap na sa pader ng MRT-Santolan Station, binangga niya head-on ung pader and pagbangga umikot ung sasakyan niya to the point na nakaharap sa car ko ung front portion niya and kahit near-full stop na ko nasagi pa rin ung bumper and headlight ko sa driver side... after which motionless na vehicle niya (with the engine smoking though).

Shocked kaming tatlo sa car, pero since properly seated kami (seatbelts, proper sitting position and all), wala naman samen nasaktan. Plus, since near full stop na talaga ako nung nadali, parang katok lang ung naramdaman namin sa loob.

Then, regardless if shocked or not, I just had to check the taxi driver, first priority, nothing less, nothing more. Upon checking him out, duguan mukha niya... he was requesting that I help him open his door but it was jammed (ung front-driver side tire niya nakahiga na, plus ung driver door niya yupi talaga) so I quickly went to the other side and luckily oks ung passenger door, opened it, lifted the handbrakes (regardless if it will still serve its purpose). While I was on the passenger side trying to wipe the blood soaking through his face, two concerned civilians also talked to him via the driver side (dunno where they came from), they rested the man's seat so he could lie down and we asked him what happened... all he could answer was "di rumesponde ung manibela ko sa kabig ko", and "nawalan ng kapit".. And in less than 10 mins. may dumating na rin na mga PNP from Crame to check things out, an investigator, and the guard of the MRT station. Pagdating nila pinasakay na namin ung driver sa isa pang taxi at pinadala na nila sa hospital. Ako na lang nagprovide ng info at lahat-lahat kasama ng mga witness sa nangyari (ung 2 civilians). The MRT guard even asked for my license and contact info kasi daw papabayad nila ung damage sa operator ng taxi. When he mentioned the operator of the taxi, I look at the passenger door for some contact #'s, luckily I found one and contacted the operator. Sumagot at sinabing punta na siya agad. Now's the time to check on the damage on my vehicle, and when I checked, the bumper is heavily damaged on its corner plus the headlight was misalligned... No other parts were mis-alligned or affected by the impact beside that (thank God for the stability of the body of this car).

Nang mga 30mins. after, dumating na ung operator (tapos na kumuha ng pictures ung mga traffic investigator at MRT personnel at lahat-lahat). Sabi ia-accompany daw ako sa Timog kung saan ung outpost ng MMDA. Langya hanggang Nepa-Q-Mart lang ako sinamahan, pagdating dun binigyan na lang ako ng directions. Since I'm not much in the mood to argue (shocked and all), dumeretso na lang ako sa outpost (sa ilalim ng flyover)... wrote my statement, requested for a police report, paid the photo fee, etc. etc..

When everything's finally over, the police told me na ung driver ng taxi eh basag daw ung sa forehead dahil tumama sa manibela.. They were already accusing the taxi driver na nga na under the influence of drugs, liquor, fell asleep, and even blamed him for not wearing his seatbelt, not maintaining his vehicle, etc. etc.... sad but what one of whatever they mentioned could prove possible. But I don't want to start blabbing my mouth against the driver since condition niya inaalala ko and what's important here is that taxi driver would live. Not so that I could blame him or charge him but so that he won't leave his family behind at an unexpected time and at a time where everyone really has to make a living to keep living.

Done with all the requirements, I left and proceeded to go home to Pampanga. Luckily, thanks to the alloted time I placed on my sched., we were still able to reach Pampanga on time. When my Optra finally got the chance to take a break, I kept looking on the damage.... and d*ng nanghinayang talaga ako dahil kakatapos lang ng gastos ko sa sasakyang 'to sa pagpapagawa ng mga body scratches, dents, replacing the HU, etc., and it just took a blink of an eye to add another damage to my pocket.. I kept looking and looking, and was even able to estimate the cost, I thought it wouldn't exceed 5K when I first looked at it at EDSA, but I was wrong, so WRONG...

I opened the hood and checked for damages inside the bay, and then and there, I saw, that the headlight cracked at the back. Nakabolt kasi sa body so nung na mis-alligned, probably may kalakasan din ung impact, kaya ung part kung san sinilyado ung headlight eh open na at puno na ng tubig sa may bulb area ng headlight. Also, pag kapa ko through the damage sa bumper, may malaking crack pala na di ko nanotice since black ung car... ayun napakamot na ko. Ung 5k na akala kong gagastusin lang dahil nasa isip ko eh allignment lang at pukpok eh aabot na more or less to 15-30K kung papalitan ung bumper (considering the grill+bumper is only ONE part for the Optra) and headlight (which is more or less around 5K).

Hay, kamot talaga ako ng kamot ng ulo ko nun. Di ko maisip kung sisingilin pa ba ung operator dahil lagot na siya sa MRT, lagot pa sya sa sasakyan niya, at malalagot pa sya saken. Naisip ko pa ung driver na awang-awa talaga ako dahil duguan, nagiisip ako kung magkano pa gagastusin nun sa hospital... Pero naguluhan pa ako lalo nang bumirit na logic ko... kasi kakatapos ko lang magbayad ng tuition naming magkapatid (opo tri-sem sa pinapasukan ko + working student), kakabayad ko lang din ng mga maintenance na utang sa mga trucks, kakabayad ko lang din sa bills sa bahay, and lastly, kakatapos lang ng gastos sa Optra... so in short, ubos na rin pera ko. And sa lagay ng headlight ko, di ko mababyahe sa gabi dahil paniguradong huli ako at kulang ako ng isa. Di rin naman pwedeng hindi ako magsasakyan dahil may times sa work na 10 mins. andito ka at 10 mins. sa ibang lugar ka naman (sa gabi pa mostly work dahil trucking un).

Plus, ung problema pa na wala akong nakuhang info about sa Taxi Driver (pangalan, contact, address, etc.) at pati na rin sa operator, pati kung may compre ba ito (na feeling ko eh wala), eh todo nagpapagulo sa utak ko... hay... pano ko sisingilin 'to? Sigh... advice naman po mga peeps. This is the worst car accident I've personally witnessed in my life..

Temporarily, ipahinga ko na muna siguro itong Optra ko until masimulan ang repair. Ayoko gamitin compre ko dahil aware ako sa participation fee na gastos din. For now, I'll have to deal with the Lancer siguro... sigh... Kahit anong ingat mo talaga sa daan dito sa Pinas, kung may mga ibang klase naman umasta ang iba, eh wala rin... idagdag pa ung lack of implementation of the law esp. on the banning of dilapitated vehicles on the road (considering na napansin ko ung gulong ng taxi na sobra nipis na talaga)... sigh... nakakabuwisit na at the same time nakakatakot..

For images, pwede niyo po icheck 'tong link na 'to (naka-Zip po, around 550KB):

http://h1.ripway.com/agent47/OptraDocuments.zip