Exactly
I was driving the big volva xc90 there…big fucking mistake. Nice car and all, but it’s way to big there and I think i was the only person there i saw with it. Most had the smaller xc60. I consider myself a pretty good driver, but I was really struggling with that car getting used to the size and turning radius of it which was really awful. I’m not sure if it’s because the roads and spaces are tighter, because i’m used to driving a big pick up truck in the US, but I was really having a hard time.
I didn’t even try to drive that thing in rome. Just Uber. The roads there are enough to drive you mad with how bumpy they are…having to drive bumper to bumper with people there was just terrible.
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Obviously once the road test has been introduced then there will be a need for road instruction prior to the test. The main improvements in road safety will come from use of mirrors and general road awareness (such as looking before pulling out into a main road/opening the car door etc). None of this is necessary in the current practical test.
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I hope so, but will that mean that everyone has to go to driving school? which isn’t cheap, i think like 15k for me.
I was also surprised about no road awareness stuff like looking at mirrors. The only road awareness was opening the door to the car lol…
They’ll only have to go to driving school if they think they’ll need it in order to pass. I’ve known several foreigners who considered themselves to be really good drivers but failed the current driving test on multiple occasions (the s bend was the usual culprit). They chose to forgo driving school. Supposedly, if you take the driving lessons they teach you to lock the wheel every time you see a mark they painted by the side of the road.
For me the current test was a doddle and a farce. I had a brainfart and did the whole thing with my handbreak left on and still passed. Lost 7 points for that, or something. LOL!
They didn’t tell you half way though?!
Yeah, I think I recall him telling me before I did any maneuvers. It was a long time ago. I also remember the next candidate sitting in the back of the car. LOL
Speaking of bad drivers. Women who knows she has epilepsy drives and kills a boy after getting a seizure. http://taiwanenglishnews.com/12-year-old-dies-of-injuries-after-driver-plows-through-scooters/
There’s a reason like 90% of the cars here are scratched up and I find new scratches on my car all the time. I remember a discussion recently about getting a car painted and one member suggested a place he uses every year. 
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Re: Rome. The transportation sucks major ass. There are only two metro lines and the bus system is a mess.
That said I still detest the traffic here. In my imagination I have burned down all the scooters on this island and sent all the smoke to China. That was a good day.
You take your life in your hand whenever you drive in Taiwan.
I drive a scooter in Kaohsiung and it takes about 30 minutes to go to work. Each time I drive I see someone doing something dangerous. That is not to mention breaking the road rules (which are very seldom enforced in kaohsiung).
Anyway, I have only had one instance of road rage. I was driving to work and the road was pretty non-congested. I was doing the wrong thing by driving in the car section and not in the concrete barrackaded scooter section. The reason I chose not to drive there is because lots of blue trucks pull out blindly and a lot of accidents happen in the lane on that road.
So a taxi starts tailgating me and beeping his horn. He had a whole lane to himself on the left so he could have over taken. Instead he just speeds through my lane and pushes me far to close to concrete barrier. He could have easily caused my death if I would have paniced and swerved either way.
At the light he gets out of his car and screams at my in chinese with plenty of swear words thrown in for good measure. I yell back at him in English and broken Chinese. I then pull into the scooter section as he proceeds to follow me all the way to work. He waits outside and later a blue truck pulls up. There is security where I work, so they couldn’t get in even if they wanted too.
Moral of the story. Be careful on the roads. Be careful with road rage. You never know if they have a weapon or will call their friends. It’s better just to drive off and stay safe than lose your cool than get the shit beaten out of you by a group or someone with a machete. There are lots of gangsters in some cities, so also be careful of altercations in nightclubs bars. Apologising and walking away is the best option (even if you did nothing wrong).
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Carry mace, comes with a bat and you can mace his face (mace = pepper spray)
And then go to jail.
Why would you go to jail for protecting yourself?
Because it’s illegal to use pepper spray.
Do you have a source?
welcome to Taiwan lol
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I misspoke, it used to be illegal, apparently now it’s legal for self-defense.
Still not a great idea.
The chances of some guy or guys coming after you with a stick or watermelon knife when you’ve done absolutely nothing to provoke them are practically non-existent.
You’re much better off just removing yourself without reacting, and you’re MUCH better off not planning a retaliation in advance by packing pepper spray or something.