You'd think that with travel restricted and traffic being much lighter, there'd be fewer accidents on the road. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. In a video sent to us by one of our readers, a scooter and a big bike have collided along EDSA-Ortigas northbound at around 6 PM, Sunday, April 5, 2020.
In the video that was sent to us, a kamote rider on his scooter was traveling northbound on EDSA. He was intending to take the EDSA-Ortigas flyover but missed his chance and ended up on the EDSA northbound flyover.
Rather than keep going and make a U-turn further down the road, he decided to slowly back up and attempt to cross 3-4 lanes of traffic to make it to the flyover to Greenhills. Then the unthinkable happened: while the scooter rider attempted to cross 3-4 lanes of traffic horizontally, he was T-boned by another motorcycle, a BMW R1200 GS. The big bike rider seemed to be ok, but the scooter rider, (riding a Yamaha Mio) is seen holding his leg in pain.
We checked in with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) since the video appears to be taken from CCTV footage reviewed in the agency's central base. The MMDA confirmed that it was a collision between a Yamaha Mio (1336-0455139) and a "BMW 1200" (1301-1166727) based on their report. The incident took place on the northbound side of the EDSA-Ortigas flyover.
The rider of the Mio was injured and was taken to the nearest hospital. The rider of the BMW R 1200 GS, on the other hand, was unhurt, cleared from charges, and was immediately released because the CCTV footage clearly showed he was not at fault. The MMDA's official report said the BMW GS was registered to the Philippine National Police.
MMDA's EDSA boss, Edison 'Bong' Nebrija has expressed his frustration on his Facebook Page, saying that these irresponsible acts are happening even on a traffic-free EDSA.
What to do when you miss a turn?
This happens to every one of us from time to time. The safest and right thing to do if you miss a turn is to just go forward until you find the next U-turn slot or left-turn slot. If you are not familiar with the road, just continue going forward, maintaining your speed, until you find a safe place to stop like a gasoline station or a designated emergency bay to check your GPS apps like Waze or Google Maps, or find someone to ask directions from.
Trying to make your missed turn (which is illegal) may save you a few minutes, but you put the lives of other riders at risk, as well as your own.
