The Accident That Changed Us

_{Image by freepik}

I still vividly remember the collision of tricycles that happened on the night of the 16th of March. April and I attended the small group meeting in our church, and we had a lot of fun chatting with everyone since we see each other twice a month.

On our way home, we rode a tricycle. It was around six in the evening, and the people from the TODA ( Tricycle Operators Driver's Association) already knew where we should go, twice or thrice a week I used their service and somehow I got accustomed to some drivers there.

When we arrived at the terminal, someone took us to the empty tricycle without any passengers.

"Special na po ba" ( is the ride going to be special ) he asked as if it were a special ride we would not be waiting for any passengers and immediately depart.

The dispatcher told the driver that it was special and we could go already. So we left the terminal and drove our way home.
 
Halfway through the ride, I noticed that our speed was too fast though there were no other vehicles around still; it was alarming. I felt that we were riding a bus on an expressway. I do not have any problems with the speed, but the road is dark. Streetlights are solar-powered and some are not charged properly. It was dark, but not so dark since the tricycle's headlight was on.

The tricycle in front of us is speeding up as well. I pointed to April that I saw some parts of the vehicle falling, and she confirmed that she also saw that and I stopped using my mobile device and focused on our ride.

In the dark intersection, the collision happened. A motorcycle and the tricycle in front of us were the ones involved and since our vehicle's speed was not slowing down unfortunately we got mixed up with the scenario.

Adrenaline kicked in - I grabbed April, ensuring she would not be thrown outside the tricycle.
 

_{For reference, this is the inside of the tricycle. The glass is quite small but some tricycles have bigger glass}

While there was commotion, the drunk motorcycle driver walked away from the scene. He left his vehicle. Since the place is dark, no one noticed where he went after. The tanod's arrived after a few minutes and we were asked if we got injured. We mentioned that we were okay, no bruises and all.

It's a good thing we left Dyn-Dyn in my in-laws. We kept telling ourselves that we wouldn't know what would have happened if Dyn had been with us.

Now each time that we ride the tricycles, we always mention to slow down. My senses got heightened each time that I heard the acceleration of the motor. We are restless, per se.

We live near the highway and each time that we are walking now; we do not use the sidewalks anymore. We just use the side of the road that doesn't have any asphalt to make sure that we are safe and sound.

The fear is still ingrained in our bodies as of this date. But we need to live up to and cope with this since tricycle is the primary mode of transportation within the area.