XJJ 548: Boyracer alert!

[Type 100]

March 26, 2008, 7:15pm. I had just passed the Kalayaan Avenue intersection on C5 southbound. Eager to avoid the slower traffic, I moved to the rightmost lanes to try to pass the slower traffic. Suddenly there was this bright yellow glare shooting into my rear-view mirror. The car which was the origin of this glare was still a few car-lengths away from my Jazz, but was closing in.

I shifted left, passing more cars, trying to keep a speedy pace of 90-100 km/h as I rounded the long left-hand bend that marked Petron C5 southbound. A lot of slower traffic was around, but there were enough gaps to overtake with. The insulting yellow glare burned brighter now; I would have been blinded if the light were scattershot HID from a no-projector headlamp assembly. The car was closing on my Jazz's tail until it was just three feet away---at 100 km/h.

Moving to the middle as I approached the bridge area, I made use of the large gaps between slower cars to keep my speed up. I braked first, signalled my maneuvers in advance, stepped down a gear and went past. The yellow light stuck to my tail, following me at a dangerously close distance because I had chosen the only free path through the slower traffic. It was seemingly intent on either racing me or crashing into my rear.

My right foot was almost instinctively burying itself deeper into the throttle as my speedometer read 115 km/h and climbing. I wanted to get away from this tailgating idiot.

Past the pedestrian footbridge, before the Heritage Park off-ramp, C5 finally became decongested of slower cars for a margin worth a good five car-lengths. The only other vehicle in front of me was a six-wheeler truck on the leftmost lane. Driving in the middle of the road with a car inches off my rear, I decided to put this to an end.

Aiming my steering wheel to the left, I fell in behind the light truck and gently pressed the brakes. The yellow light flashed past on my right. It came from a white ES-series Civic, with what looked like 17" black five-spoke wheels, full black tinting and a tinted plate holder. It revved its engine spitefully as it passed. As soon as it was clear, I moved back to the middle.

I watched this Civic deal with the slower traffic that awaited us as we made the final 500 meters to the SLEX on-ramp. Letting him pass was a blow to my pride, but when I watched the ES swerve maliciously around the slower cars I was almost happy to let him pass.

The mid-evening traffic awaited all of us as we merged into SLEX. I noticed the white ES forced its way into the middle of the road. Sticking to the rightmost lane anticipating an exit to Bicutan, I realized I had a chance to catch this tailgating boyracer in the act. Knowing it was unsafe, I whipped out my phone anyway and attempted to take photos of the ES' rear end twice. My phone's camera was simply too slow to process the image despite shooting in walking-pace traffic. I decided to key in the ES Civic's plate number instead.

The ES' rear plate read "XJJ 548" through the tinted plate holder.

If you encounter this moron on the road, steer clear. My blood is still boiling with frustration because the proud part of me thinks I lost our duel. But when I think about where exactly we were duking it out, on the open road, shared with many other motorists...maybe I was correct in letting the jerk pass.

Caveat emptor.

UPDATE: Apparently this guy is already notorious. Some HCP people have already recognized this ES' belligerent driving from previous "encounters"

[ghosthunter]

any sticker on the car that would say from which "group" he is associated with?

[tidus1203]

Not worth it IMO. Just save your gas and let him pass. Mas mura ang pride kaysa gasolina these days

[Memphis Raines]

I'm no saint so I do have my lead foot days which makes it difficult for me to have my pride blown away by a racer wannabe.

Thank God that only happens rarely with me these days. I think it's because of the fact that I have realized that it ain't worth the mess it can devastatingly create if I was the other participating fool to fall for such a foolish move.

In short, I just don't want to be part of the problem

[s_quilicot]

Not worth it IMO. Just save your gas and let him pass. Mas mura ang pride kaysa gasolina these days

KOREK! hehe .. buti sana kung corrupt government officials tayo para magsayang ng gasolina .. haha

[CVT]

Bro., I surmise that you exited at Bicutan and that he continued going in the general direction of Alabang-Laguna, right? If I were you, I would have disengaged earlier. Not worth the trouble keeping ahead of this type of driver.

Anyway, we'll watch out for this friend of ours.....

5707:tumbleweed:

[iho250]

Not worth it IMO. Just save your gas and let him pass. Mas mura ang pride kaysa gasolina these days

amen!!! :thumbup:

[s_quilicot]

yaan nyo na siya .. feeling sikat siguro siya sa ride nya ! baka naman bro tunog lang mabilis sa ES niya .. haha

[Type 100]

Bro., I surmise that you exited at Bicutan and that he continued going in the general direction of Alabang-Laguna, right? If I were you, I would have disengaged earlier. Not worth the trouble keeping ahead of this type of driver.

Anyway, we'll watch out for this friend of ours.....

5707:tumbleweed:

Bicutan din sya lumabas bro. I let him past at the first best opportunity I saw.

Ghosthunter:
His rear windscreen has a number of stickers but none I'm familiar with. No HCP or Club7thGen sticker seen, definitely. Most of those I saw were tuning shops...I have trouble remembering exactly which ones.

I'm no saint either; I like to drive fast but I give ample warning before I pass. My question is when exactly does driving fast become a license for other people to tailgate you? This isn't the first time it's happened to me, it's happened a LOT.

[Type 100]

Not worth it IMO. Just save your gas and let him pass. Mas mura ang pride kaysa gasolina these days

Natawa ako dito bro! +100 to you :D