Tips on How to Survive EDSA Traffic

There’s a high probability that every Filipino driver has its own nightmare stories involving Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or more commonly known as EDSA. I’m sure that the chunk of those EDSA stories has something to with their horrendous experience while crawling through the bumper-to-bumper traffic. What’s new? EDSA has always been like that, which makes me wonder on how would Mr. Epifanio himself feel as he has been on the receiving end of the multiple swear words night and day. As such, here’s four ways on how you could survive driving through EDSA traffic.

Adopt the Carpool System

Getting stuck for hours in traffic is difficult because you can’t do nothing rather than sit and wait for the cars in front of you to move. With that, try to adopt the carpool system where you tag along your officemates or schoolmates to ride with you on the way home. In this way, you’ll have someone to talk to while crawling through EDSA traffic. A good laugh with your friends, while inside your car, can help you forget that you’re driving in rush hour traffic–think of it as tambay on wheels.

Car Entertainment

Make use of the in-car entertainment if the carpool system doesn’t sit well with you. Listen to your favorite radio station (FM or AM) so that your focus will not be fixated on the horrendous traffic. You can also connect your phone to your car’s infotainment system to be able to play your favorite playlist. Speaking of which, creating a playlist that’s specifically for EDSA traffic is a good idea.

Patience, Patience, and More Patience

You need to be patient behind the wheel if you want to survive driving through EDSA traffic. Before you set off from your parking space, always make sure that your patience meter is full–you’ll need a lot of it as EDSA traffic could get the best of you.

Be a Courteous Driver

Aside from patience, remember to be a courteous driver even if others are not. When you want to change lanes, use your car’s indicator lights. On the other hand, if you see a fellow motorist doing the same, the best thing to do is to give way. Don’t nudge your car’s front end to block the other motorist as this could end up in a car accident that would add to the snail-like pace of the EDSA traffic. What can you gain if you don’t let one or two motorists get ahead of you? You’re all stuck on EDSA.

Bonus: Watch Your Fuel

Make sure that your car has enough fuel before you drive through EDSA traffic for obvious reasons. I recommend that you should fill up your tank if the fuel gauge is already on the ¼ level (this is the last bar or line before empty) because it’s better to be sure than sorry. EDSA is not the nicest place to be at, especially when it’s rush hour. However, we still keep on driving through it since we literally don’t have a choice. The tips mentioned above can help lessen the amount of driver stress when you’re crawling along EDSA. Keep in mind to not lose your cool–you’ll eventually arrive at your destination.  

Main photo courtesy of: Patrick Roque