Driving in Manila for Foreigners - Tip #3: Know your car & it's capabilities.

In the last installment of this series, I talked about the use of horns and the headlight flash on the streets of Manila. That was pre-requisite knowledge to actually driving here. Well, in this post i'll point out what I think is another pre-requisite to driving successfully in Manila; Having intimate knowledge of your car's dimensions and capabilities. Let me explain.

In Tip #1 of this series, I talked about redefining your definition of "personal space". This is mainly due to the fact that other cars can be mere inches away from one another. This minimum amount of space requires you to have a VERY keen sense of the size of your car, it's turning radius, and what it is capable of. Daily, I witness people that don't have a good grasp of their car's size, etc and they are more timid with their turns and with their decision making when driving their car around Manila. Well, I hate to break it to you bud, but Manila is NOT the place to be timid. They're afraid to finish a turn or make a move because they think they're close to hitting another car when in fact they have plenty of room to do so safely. Instead, they stop and wait for things to clear up or even worse, they try to back up to make more room and further block traffic. What's the net result of this lack of knowledge of their car's size and capabilities? Increased travel time as well as increased traffic which affects everyone.

In addition to just the sheer dimensions of your car, I also mentioned it's capabilities. This includes things like it's turning radius. If you know the turning radius of you car well, you'll know if you can safely clear a turn or not...even with a very small margin for error. This allows you to make the snap judgements that are necessary while driving that will help you get through the horrendous Manila traffic quickly and safely.

Aside from just the front turning radius, a big thing to keep in mind is also the turning radius of the REAR tires of your car. This is a necessity in driving pretty much anywhere in the world, but it is even more important in places like Manila with less margin for error. So keep this in mind: that when you turn your car, the rear tires will naturally take a shallower arch than the front tires. Check out the image to the right. The red line is the path taken by the front tires and the green line is the path taken by the rear tires. It's just the physics of a car that steers from the front wheels. This is also more pronounced the bigger and longer the wheelbase of the car. So, while your front may clear the turn you're trying to make, the rear may not. This is the reason that a lot of people curb their rear wheels when navigating street turns. They are only paying attention to the arch of the front wheels and not the shallower arch that the rear wheels will take. So, this may require you to take a wider, but sharper turn with your front wheels so that the rear clears safely.

So what's the moral of the story here? Know your car and know it WELL. Knowing your car well will go a long way in helping you drive in Manila "successfully". And again, by "successfully" I mean safely, without incident, and in the minimum amount of time possible.