Tricycles are motorcycles with sidecars, either for carrying passengers or for carrying goods.

There is a third type of tricycle - the pedal tricycle or pedicab. This is simply a push-bike fitted with a sidecar.

Tricycles, usually referred to as trics (pronounced “trikes”), have become another Philippine icon.

They were originally designed to operate on small back-roads where jeepneys or buses were not permitted, but today you will find trics everywhere, even on national highways. But they are not permitted on expressways (toll roads).

Highway Hazards
It is the tricycles (and jeepneys) that have made Philippine highway travel so slow. Trics, and often pedicabs, just putter along at a snail's pace, often on the overtaking lane while ignoring the blasting of horns by other drivers wanting to overtake.

And it is the tric that often leads to head-on collisions by drivers who run out of patience and overtake recklessly. It all gets back to the main road rule here - "Might is Right!" - and trics come near the bottom of the ladder, just one rung above dogs, cats, chooks, and pedestrians.

Thanks to a combination of jeepneys and trics on the highway, the trip from San Fernando City, La Union, to Angeles can often take over four hours - that's an average speed of only 45 kilometers an hour.

<< Previous    [1]  2    Next >>