Herbie’s Crash at EDSA/Santolan on September 8, 2007
September 10, 2007 
Herbie lost his brakes and smashed his left fender on some MMDA Railings and slightly hit a Honda CRV last Saturday, September 8, 2007 at around 3:00PM.
I was on my way to Emmy's Maryknoll Batch 82 Alumni Homecoming, briskly driving on EDSA without traffic. Herbie's stereo wasn't working but I couldn't get VST's song out of my head. Aaa…awitin mo.
The plan was to get Herbie washed and a haircut and shave for myself before heading on to Maryknoll.
The drive was uneventful. Herbie was slipping the gaps between cars and the recently adjusted brakes were working as good as ever. I coasted just after the Santolan exit, planning to make a right to head towards Blue Ridge.
And then it happened, as I stepped on the brakes, the pedals hit the floorboard. surprised, I pumped the pedal to get the juices flowing. Still nothing! I was about to hit a Honda CRV dead on so I yanked on the hand brake hard! It slowed me down but I knew that I was still going to hit the Honda.
With a heavy heart, I swerved hard right, sacrificing Herbie. I hit that sidewalk pretty hard but my momentum still was enough to propel Herbie to just kiss the rear fender and bumper of the CRV. After the bump, I got out of Herbie to check on the owner to see if they were OK. The lady was surprised but otherwise alright. Some scratches on the CRV was about it. Nothing really major, not too bad. Really, I didn't hit the Honda that hard.
Herbie was NOT as lucky. The major damage was to the passenger side fender that sported a fresh gash from the pink MMDA fence. The headlight was crumpled BUT the glass didn't break. The drivers side fender also sported a long dent but was otherwise solid. Surprisingly, the front bumper survived relatively unharmed. Some pink paint transfered to it but with some buffing out, I think it will be good. This was little consolation when I saw the passenger side whitewall insert torn halfway off. sigh.
After an hour waiting for the inspectors to arrive and getting our paperwork together, Herbie was towed to Jon Portos shop for diagnosis. Preliminary first-aid included removing both fenders off. Guess what? The brakes worked !?!
I left Herbie in Jon's capable hands while I went to the Maryknoll reunion. A couple of beers numbed the sadness and the genuine concern by our friends made the evening enjoyable I must say.
Not to worry boys and girls, Herbie has been through worse before and we vow to bring him back BETTER than before.
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