Save for coding, I traverse C5 and EDSA to and from my workplace almost every single day. My daily transport, a trusty four-year-old Hyundai Eon, has experienced a lot driving through these two thoroughfares, including their ever changing surfaces and conditions. With this in mind, here are seven things you can relate to if you frequently ply through the two routes in a small car.
1. Potholes feel way deeper than they really are. You know what I'm talking about: When it comes to potholes, the smaller the car, the harsher the experience. We don't absorb these craters as well as bigger vehicles, leading to aching butts and spines. This is one of my most common worries passing through EDSA and C5.
2. Singit to win it. I often clock out past 9pm from the office, meaning monstrous trucks are already making their way towards C5. Because of new regulations, they now occupy only the middle of the road--a hassle for small cars when changing lanes. Our advantage though is that we can fit in small spaces and tiny gaps, which brings me to my next point.
3. Sometimes you're an ant to big vehicles. A workmate once shared his experience while driving his Miata on EDSA in bumper-to-bumper traffic. An SUV maneuvered towards his car without even noticing him, grazing the fender of his beloved roadster. The driver's excuse? She didn't see the Miata. In a similar situation, I was driving on C5 when a 12-wheeler truck suddenly moved to my lane, nearly causing an accident. Fortunately, there was just enough space for him to pass through. The lesson? Be a defensive driver at all times.
4. You're easy picking for motorcycles. Because you give up so much space around you, two-wheelers know you're the target for making it to the front of the pack (or intersection). They seem to pile up around you, and you're helpless in defending the precious gap between you and other cars. I already know they're going to take my lane and get ahead of me when I see them.
5. Your fuel will last longer than other vehicles. Our cars are efficient and don't feel like they're burning a hole in our wallets while stuck in EDSA or C5 traffic. A bar of fuel will get me to and from my office, and two-hour crawls through EDSA don’t stress me out as much financially. In fact, I worry more about finding a decent bathroom while I'm stuck in traffic.
6. We're accessible to street vendors. Their favorite clients are small car owners as we're easy to spot and even easier to reach. They don't need to tip toe to reach our payment, and there's no need to shout in between transactions as they can literally lean on our windows. Everything is conveniently within reach when you drive a small vehicle.
7. We drive ideal city cars. Simply put, our vehicles just make sense on the two busiest highways in the Metro. They don't sip as much fuel as bigger cars, are easy to maneuver in traffic, are cheaper to repair in case of bumps and scratches, and easier to communicate in due to the smaller cabin. Small cars really are the ideal city transports of our time.
