Formula One star won’t dare drive in Metro Manila

[dazedchiq]

He has driven in the toughest and fastest racetracks of the world. Yet Jenson Button, a rising star in the high-speed firmament of Formula One car racing, wouldn’t dare drive in Metro Manila.

Especially on Fridays.

Button, who is here to serve his last duties for the Mild Seven Renault F1 team this year, had his first taste of this country’s pathetic traffic condition when he was taken to the Makati ShangriLa hotel from the airport upon his arrival last Friday night.

Having rained earlier in the afternoon, the stretch of EDSA from Pasay City to Makati City that night was turned into a virtual parking lot with thousands of cars lined up bumper to bumper and moving at a pace of about five feet a minute.

Button’s police escorts had anticipated the gridlock. To get him to his hotel fast, the two motorcycle-riding cops led the white Ford E150 van Button was riding against oncoming traffic several times. First they countered the flow along Airport Road going to EDSA and again going through a one-way street on the way to Pasong Tamo and Pasay Road.

"Oh my God! I can’t believe it. That car was going straight at us. Unbelievable!" he exclaimed, pointing at a silver gray Honda Civic that never gave an inch to the approaching van as it weaved through traffic along Tramo street.

The young Button, only 22 years old and a native of Sommerset, England, has been driving all his life. He started on a small motorcycle at seven and jumped to a kart at eight. He has conquered all racing events in Europe open to his age and has risen to become Great Britain’s youngest ever Formula One driver and the youngest ever driver in F1 history to score a point.

Yet despite his impressive credentials, Button confessed that he flunked the driver’s licensure test the first time he took it.

The experience along Airport Road reminded him of that day he flunked the test. "I was 17 then and I passed this slow-moving car. There was a car coming on my direction and I saw that there was enough room for me to pass. But the car hit the kerb (sidewalk). It was actually the fault of the driver of that car, but the examiner flunked me," he said.

From that day on, Button always did thing the right way. "I wouldn’t dare drive here," he said matter-of-factly. "I would surely be scared."

Button arrived on an Air France flight from Paris to attend the "XLR8: The Mild Seven F1 Experience" event at The Fort in Fort Bonifacio Global City yesterday.

He flew in wearing a pair of jeans, a green t-shirt, brown leather jacket and a blue Mild Seven F1 cap with his signature and race number (15).

Button was excited to visit Manila, "having heard so many things about the Philippines from friends and relatives in London." He never felt afraid of the peace and order situation. AAnd for one, I love to obviously different places and different culture," he said.

Button was definitely observing everything on the road throughout the 30-minute trip from the airport to the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, He inquired about the stranded passengers on the road. And he turned his head sharply when he saw the jeepney. "What was that? And what is that man doing?" he asked pointing to a "sabit" or a man hanging from the door of the vehicle.

On the way to Pasong Tamo through a one-way street, Jenson shook his head. "Are we going on a one-way road?" he asked. Nobody in the van answered so he repeated his query, this time in a louder voice. "Are we going on a one-way road?" "Yes, Jenson. Why?" asked this writer. ?Fantastic.

"This is my first time to go against a one-way road," he yelled back,

Unbelievable?

***taken from www.philstar.com***

[KG21]

o nga noh hehee.....takot sya sa traffic hehe

[pajerokid]

kaya hindi manalo e :mrgreen:

[FerioEG9Boi]

Hahaha. I'd kill to see him drive through Monday morning rush hour traffic at EDSA. maski tangke pa dalhin nya wala shang laban sa mga dragracing buses, jeepneys at taxis natin!

[lui]

ibig sabihin lang nyan iba tlaga ang pinoy driver:mrgreen:

[Kalinaw_75]

yung friend ko rito.... nagbakasyon sa Pinas. Prior on his vacation i told him how we drive in Pinas, the taxi, the infamous jeepney & bus driver.

So after his vacation..... yung 1st line kung narinig ko sa kanya. How did you do that..... then sabi ko ano? Sabi paano kayo hindi na accidente sa daan kung ganon kayong klaseng magmameho at ganon ka scary ang daan..... sabi ko we are simply the best driver in the world, natatawa lang sya at napa-iling :lol:

BTW, halos narininig ko yung same feedback sa mga 1st timer na bisita jan sa Pinas.

[mbt]

sigurado kahit si schumacher hindi magddrive dito... an entirely different set of driving skills is required here: expertise sa gitgitan, tantsahan, pag-alam ng shortcuts...

tingnan natin ano magagawa ni "rain-master" schumi dito sa baha sa atin hehehehe :twisted:

[HITMAN*47]

sigurado kahit si schumacher hindi magddrive dito... an entirely different set of driving skills is required here: expertise sa gitgitan, tantsahan, pag-alam ng shortcuts...

Well said mbt.......

[Visitor]

Mentality lang nating mga pinoy na magaling tayong magdrive. IMO the right term for Pinoy drivers are reckless driver. Kaya di umaasenso ang Pinas kulang sa disiplina.

[conrad]

IMHO

its not something we should be proud of...


i found it funny at first pero isipin mo nalang kung ano yung impact niyan sa reputation natin...going againt traffic, going into one way traffic like its an everyday thing...

having unsafe PUV...and many more...

[yamyam]

sa skills magaling, sa disiplina kulang

[cliffjumper]

ang galing talaga ng pinoy :?: :mrgreen:

[DSM619]

dapat may contest ang Pinoy na driver at Mexicano na driver sa lusutan sa makitid na daan .

[totoybato]

I agree with Visitor, talagang reckless lang tayo mag drive. Share ko lang po, I was (in Seoul, Korea)riding in my friend' s car (pinoy din), when suddenly this friend of mine made a U-turn at the middle of the street, crossing a double yellow line, muntik na kaming makabangga ng isang kotse, which was also driven by another foreigner, sabay baba ng window yung foreigner at ang sabi pasigaw "Philippine style of driving ha!":oops:. Obviously the other driver is familiar with Manila driving. Dyahi!!

[DSM619]

iba na talaga ang reputasyon natin sa driving tsk,tsk,tsk!

[dazedchiq]

well.. kulang nga sa disipilina.. pero ung skills natin, nakuha din natin sa pagka-walang disiliplina ng ibang drivers...

pano na kaya kung naging prof. drivers tlga tayo... cguro ang galing natin kasi ok na ung skills natin, madadagdagan pa sa training, dba?

[DSM619]

ang mga pinoy drivers combo na yata yan ng rally driver , drag race driver ,nascar driver etc.

[empy]

meron bang pinoy na top race car driver....at any level?

just wondering

[devdevlin]

meron bang pinoy na top race car driver....at any level?

just wondering

correct me if im wrong, pero pagkakaalam ko sa current crop of racing drivers natin wala pa. i think hangang asian F3 lang. whatever happened to that guy who was supposed to join the V8 supercars in australia?

i think natakot si button sa lack of discipline ng mga drivers dito sa pinas. being an f1 driver traveling at 250-300 kmh is irrelevant as all drivers in f1 drives at the same speed. tsaka alam naman ata nya na disiplinado yun other f1 drivers to not make reckless moves at those fast speeds.

hindi kaya pag may nakapasok na pinoy sa f1 panay black flag ang makuha nya sa pangigitgit at pag cut nya ng iba mga kotse sa track?

[suv]

Yan ang epekto ng PISTON, FEJODAP and IMBOA :bwahaha: