Cyclist caught counterflowing on NLEX

A cyclist was caught counterflowing on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Northbound near the Philippine Arena in Bulacan on Tuesday.

According to a ''State of the Nation'' report by Raffy Tima on Friday, dashcam footage of the incident showed the man biking next to the center island and being chased by an NLEX patrol officer.

“Hindi rin po na-explain [ng siklista] kasi parang napakakonti lang nung salita niya. Basta ang narinig lang sa kaniya, nagpapasalamat, ‘yun lang po. Hindi siya makausap ng maayos,” said NLEX Traffic Operations Department head Robin Ignacio.

([The cyclist] didn’t explain because he wasn’t talking very much. All we heard was him thanking us; that was it. We couldn’t talk to him properly.)

“Pagbaba nung patrol namin, pinapahinto. Hindi siya tumitigil. Kaya ang ginawa, hinabol po ng patrol namin kasi kailangan talaga ma-stop siya dahil naka-counterflow siya doon sa traffic eh,” he added.

(When our patrol arrived, they made him stop. He didn’t stop. What they did was chase him down because he really needed to be stopped since he was counterflowing the traffic.)

The cyclist ultimately stopped and was taken into a patrol car before being let go outside the expressway.

“Parang tinuruan lang siya na dumiretso doon. Mukhang hindi niya alam na expressway, so naliligaw po siya,” Ignacio said.

(Apparently, he was told to go there. He got lost, apparently unaware that it was an expressway.)

Bikes are not allowed on expressways, the NLEX management said.

“’Yung mga signage po natin, kumpleto naman po. Error lang din talaga ‘yung pagpasok niya,” he said.

(Our signage is complete. Him entering the expressway was an error.)

The video of the incident has already garnered more than 500,000 views on social media. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News