How many can't drive?

[piglett]

How many of these ladies from the PI. can't drive?
i just found out my girl can't, she says she is scared to. what???
I told her my mother drives just fine & she is an old woman.
I think given a little time i can have my girl driving
probably start her off with my riding lawnmower in 1st gear
just so she can get the feel of it.

Bear didn't you say honey doesn't drive?
has that been a problem?


piglett

[Cbear]

most don't drive, their perception is based on what they see everyday, the traffic there is a nightmare unless you understand how its done. The whole thing is rather polite and cutting people off and being cut off is the norm, it's just how its done there.

My girl is getting her license now. I don't even think she has to take a test. At least that is what they told her. Its a money thing I think.

You have a PM

[joemc58]

Hey Pig,
            My wife has been in the states since 1982 she don't drive. I even sent her to a Sears driving school.
            She drove her instructor scared straight.      does your gf know how to a ride bike.
             you have a lot to learn my friend., and you wont find it here,  But you do ask good questions
             your biggest concern should be, is she going to like the woods of New Hampshire  :
             

[Romello]

My lady knows how to drive, but has not driven in some years.  She looks forward to driving here.

[stevjulietb]

Juliet took the drivers test, passed it after several tries and has been driving for 7 years. 
I think its important that they learn to drive.  I am 25 years older than juliet, so she needs to be able to function with and without me.

Steveb

[Dave H]

I drove my wife in the US. She was about to get her Florida license before we moved to the Philippines. She finally realized that wrecks were inevitable where we lived, I had already had the first one with the new car, and she drove much better than the locals. I am sure that she would have liked more Independence, because she didn't want to bother me by asking me to drive her all of the time. I didn't mind since I am retired and had nothing else to do. Public transportation sucks where we lived, so it wasn't much of an option. My wife would much rather drive in the Philippines (has Philippines driver's license) than South Florida, even though our truck has a manual transmission here and her SUV in the states was an automatic. I have to agree with her! The roads are many times better in South Florida, but the majority of the drivers are just as bad, if not worse...yakking and texting on their cellphones, putting on makeup, and God knows what else, while driving their Mercedes, Lexus, or BMW's at the speed of light! Had we been in most other states or further north in Florida, she would have been driving. I got into two wrecks in recent years, caused by foreigners backing into me on the road when they missed their turn. I was stuck in the lane and had no way to avoid them. They didn't use their rearview mirrors,  ignored my horn and flashing lights. I couldn't drive more than a block without having to slam on my brakes or swerving to avoid a collision. I am thrilled to finally be out of South Florida!

Dave

[Swisskid]

the traffic there is a nightmare unless you understand how its done. The whole thing is rather polite and cutting people off and being cut off is the norm, it's just how its done there.

If they did not drive like that over there, traffic would just stop and there would be total gridlock.  Not an inch of road space is wasted in Manila.  Everyone just keeps creeping along..... 

[Shadow_mas]

There is a distinct different between how many have a drivers license and how many can actually drive. 

[Bear]

Honey has failed the test 3x.  Each time because of hitting a curb during or just after parallel parking.  She lost her motivation after the last one near 4 years ago but is starting to get motivated again.  I think she drives fine but she gets so nervous during the test.

For a large family like mine it is a major inconvenience that she doesn't drive and will become a gridlock nightmare if she doesn't learn soon.  When you have 3 kids all wanting to be someplace different at the same time, one driver just won't get it done.  Plus it would be a big help if I could depend on her getting some out of the house chores completed like grocery shopping.  I'd even be thrilled if she'd do some of her clothes shopping without me.  It would give us more free time to do other things. 

Of course the negatives are higher costs for insurance, an additional car and gas, and the inevitable auto-accident.  So far I have not heard of a Filipina passing the test on the first try, some have taken it as many as 6x before passing it.  You have to remember we grow up watching our parents drive and pretty much know what we are doing the minute we get in the seat, Filipinos need a lot more instruction since the majority of their transportation is some form of mass transit.  Also I have tried to find driving schools here in Texas but the state passed a bill giving an insurance break to driving schools who teach teenagers, so the result was to stop teaching adults, I haven't been able to find one to teach her.

I have to agree though I am paranoid that something will happen to me and she be stranded at home.  When they thought I had a heart Attack 2 months ago and I had to stay in the hospital for 3 days she was not able to visit me and unable to deal with things like buy groceries.

A lot of the Filipinas I know will not go out of their neighborhood.  Houston is a big city and we live as much as 50 miles from friends on the opposite side of town and they never drive over to our side to visit.

The Bear Family

[piglett]

Hey Pig,
 does your gf know how to a ride bike.
 is she going to like the woods of New Hampshire  :         

I think she can ride a bike, not a motor bike though , she is from way out in the country so i don't think the "big woods" of new hampshire would  bother her at all, but i could be wrong. The local hospital does offer a shuttle bus if you live in town & i'm only 2 miles away so i guess that mite work out. & there is also a taxi.

[Bear]

Not knowing if she likes forest can be quite surprising.  I asked my wife and she said it didn't bother her but her idea of a forest is completely different than mine.  Turned out she's really scared of forest and prefers to live in town.

The Bear Family

[Ray]

pig,

Philippine culture doesn’t encourage female driving. You will see very few lady drivers outside of the major cities and even then they are in a very small minority. Very few Filipino families have private vehicles so many of the men don’t drive either.

While my wife was waiting for her visa, I encouraged her to take driving lessons. She went to the local tech school, which has the only driving school in town, to inquire about lessons. She found out that no woman had ever enrolled in driving classes so she became the first one to graduate. When some of her friends and neighbors saw her driving around town with the instructor, many of them wanted to sign up also.

The lessons were very inexpensive and it took a total of around 3 months to complete. I think she had at least 2 lessons in proper horn usage. All that horn blowing means something and is actually drivers signaling other drivers of their intentions. It’s not done in anger like over here.

They only teach stick shift because most all vehicles over there have a standard transmission. I think the reverse gear must have been bad in the instruction car because they forgot to teach her how to back up…LOL!

A road test is not required to get a standard license, only a written test. For a commercial license, you need a behind-the-wheel test. The course my wife took was actually for a commercial license.

When she arrived in California and went to DMV for a learner’s permit, they gave her an interim license instead because she had a valid foreign license already. All she had to do was pass the written test and then take a road test within 60 days. It took her 4 tries to pass the road test, mostly because the DMV inspectors rarely ever pass anyone on the first try anymore…job security!

Ray

[Dave H]

I think she had at least 2 lessons in proper horn usage. All that horn blowing means something and is actually drivers signaling other drivers of their intentions. It’s not done in anger like over here.

Ray

Hey Ray,

I am still learning Philippine horn protocol. I had a very loud, electric, German made horn installed in our little Suzuki Carry pickup several years ago. It is used normally used on large buses. My brother-in-law refused to use the horn for a long time, saying it was illegal. I have pissed off a lot of Filipinos who I have honked at when they started to pull out in front of me without looking in their mirrors. Evidently, they thought that they are about to be crushed by a Bachelor Express bus and quickly pulled back in out of my way. I heard one guy yell out "ESTUPIDO!" I figure he probably pissed in his pants. 

I was amazed that I didn't hear one horn honk when I stayed a day in LA near the airport. I was expecting to at least hear the obligatory "La Cucaracha" horn a few times. Latinos use horns for everything from communication to anger in South Florida.

Dave

[Jeff S]

Very unusual to use horns around here. If you do blow your horn, you can usually expect a one finger salute in return.

You stayed near LAX and didn't let me know?

My wife came here knowing how to drive. Believe me, the freeway ride between Narita and Yokohama through the heart of Tokyo and Kawasaki is every bit as tough as going from the north Valley through LA and Long Beach to Orange County, and she had no troubles there, but she refuses to drive on the freeways here. She has her back ways to the shopping mall for sure but I still get to take her up to LA whenever we head that direction.

- Jeff

[Bob_S]

I was amazed that I didn't hear one horn honk when I stayed a day in LA near the airport. I was expecting to at least hear the obligatory "La Cucaracha" horn a few times. Latinos use horns for everything from communication to anger in South Florida.

Yeah, well, LAX is on the civilized West side.  You only need the horn to occasionally remind the Asian women drivers to hang up and press their gas pedal when the light turns green.  The barrio starts on the east side of the I-405.  And there, using your horn can get you shot.

When the MS-13 cholo gangbangers in front of you slow down to ooo-baby-ooo-baby the fat unwed teenage chicas pushing their strollers down the sidewalk, just be patient and go with the flow.

[Jeff S]

There's life EAST of the San Diego freeway?

[Bob_S]

Certainly!  There's the Hollywood Park and, and... ummm.....  well that's about it really.

[Raquelfebtember]

Many Filipina can't drive. Never drive before I came here. First thing my hubby do is put me on the tractor and he let me bail hay so I had big enough space to drive his pick up truck round and round the wheat field.Then the lawnmower and the golf cart.Not only I mow my parents inlaw yard but our yard and around the farm. When I finally got confident enough I went to the DMV and pass with flying color.Now I am not only driving car but also big machinery and maybe semi truck later lol had to help haul the grain heheheh. Never had any accidents knock on the wood.Been driving 7 years.
Pig start your gf with the lawnmower and if you have golf cart let her try that too.

[Dave H]

Yeah, well, LAX is on the civilized West side.  You only need the horn to occasionally remind the Asian women drivers to hang up and press their gas pedal when the light turns green.  The barrio starts on the east side of the I-405.  And there, using your horn can get you shot.

Thanks Bob,

I will remember that next time I am in town! 

Dave

[Jeff S]

We have an easy way of telling when Asians are moving into the neighborhoods here in the LA area. It's when all the Mexicans run out and buy auto insurance.

[piglett]

HE HE HE 
i will keep that in mind

[tessbrittain]

Driving is a must for me...I don't wanna be stuck with Stephen :-)

Encourage your wife to drive..... I can't imagine myself not driving. I am a very independent woman, being stuck at home is the worst thing.

I also felt nervous at first. I thought i would never drive on the freeways..

Now i'm complaining coz everytime me and Stephen go out he always sit on the passenger side..
I became his personal driver :-(

Tess

[Dave H]

Now i'm complaining coz everytime me and Stephen go out he always sit on the passenger side..
I became his personal driver :-(

Tess

Hey Tess,

At least Stephen doesn't sit in the back.  I've always wanted a female chauffeur. 

My Philippines driver has gotten very lazy...sleeping all the time. Most of the time I have had to go out and do battle with tricycles and jeepneys myself. At least I still have the loudest horn! 

Dave

[Jeff S]

Dave! You didn't import one of those La Cucaracha air horns, did you?

[piglett]

She says she would like to learn to drive so i guess that is a good thing.
Her parents don't drive, they live way out in the country & if they have to go somewhere they hire a car & driver.
I guess that's how it's done there.
the good news will be while she is practicing with the riding mover she can be cutting my grass 
This sounds like a plan to me.