^ well, as I said, if he ends up suing you then you could be out of pocket for a lot more, or at least your insurance provider will be.
I’m not sure what the law is in Taiwan, but it is very common in many countries that all damages are paid out by the car driver’s insurance, regardless of whether or not the cyclist was at fault. If that’s the case here it would explain the comments you heard that by law a cyclist is treated the same as a pedestrian - the comments refer to what happens with collisions between cars and bicycles.
And even the law does actually make him liable, he can still change the story to say that you came round the corner far too quickly and therefore contributed to the accident. I figure the police records of where you stopped don’t give any evidence of how quickly you went round the corner, it only shows where you stopped your car. And I’m he’s a little savvy he could easily find evidence that you habitually drive too fast.
Well, I’ll tell them the truth. It was my wife’s idea and she wasn’t there. And she felt sorry for him because he’s old. So I didn’t give him a penny. My wife did and since she didn’t witness the accident it couldn’t be an admission of guilt for something she didn’t see.
[quote=“Hartzell”]Well, here are my two cents. According to my observations over the past few decades, the traditional “Asian mentality” is that in any accident, the driver of the larger vehicle is at fault.
The Taiwanese also follow this “standard,” and indeed consider it a part of a MORAL approach to sorting out matters of liability.[/quote]
This advice is no longer correct. There have been many cases in recent years where a scooter rider was found at fault vs car driver and punished accordingly. It is now the exception for anybody to win a case where they turned illegally, ran a red light etc.
[quote=“llary”][quote=“Hartzell”]Well, here are my two cents. According to my observations over the past few decades, the traditional “Asian mentality” is that in any accident, the driver of the larger vehicle is at fault.
The Taiwanese also follow this “standard,” and indeed consider it a part of a MORAL approach to sorting out matters of liability.[/quote]
This advice is no longer correct. There have been many cases in recent years where a scooter rider was found at fault vs car driver and punished accordingly. It is now the exception for anybody to win a case where they turned illegally, ran a red light etc.[/quote]
I went and spoke the with old guy. At one point he said to me “My bicycle cost me 900nt to fix.” and I responded with “Well, my car will cost over 10,000nt to fix.” To which he responded “Well that’s your business nothing to do with me.”
Later his wife phoned me and quoted the outdated info above. “It doesn’t matter what a bike does, if a car hits it it’s the car’s fault!” Hasn’t been like that for years. In arbitration maybe…but once it gets to court it’s a different matter.
Well if the old guy and is wife are correct in their logic about the smaller vechicle always being in the right wouldn’t there be a cottage industry in Taiwan consisting of guys getting geared up in hockey gear and riding their bikes into the sides of cars? I imagine you could make a ton of money.
Well, 25 years ago it used to happen all the time. Sans hockey gear. I know several foreigners forced into large payoffs in this way, back ‘in the day’.
In Japan it is still law that when a car hits a pedestrian it’s the driver’s fault, no matter what the circumstances. It is a cottage-industry among Chinese immigrants there, taking advantage of this. It’s become so common they may have to change the law, which never envisaged people throwing themselves in front of cars for money.
Mordeth, I think you are going about this the wrong way. If you want this guy to pay or even admit he’s wrong you will have to take him to court. If the police report had concluded you were in the right place at the time of accident it’s the old guy’s job to prove otherwise. He will have to hire lawyers and take you to court for that because given that no-one was injured in this incident and no-one is willing to make a statement to the police that implicates them in a crime, the police aren’t interested. In a civil case neither of you is going to get the judgment he wants at a price that makes sense, certainly not the cyclist. Forget about it. Tell the old bastard to piss off and not come back until he has a summons. Make sure your wife learns the lesson not to apologize or give compensation without your knowledge.
I talked with one of my Taiwan-lawyer colleagues, who offered up the following information:
One has to follow traffic rules when riding bicycles (even a non-motor one). There is a special chapter regulating that bicycle drivers shall follow the traffic rules (including which lane to ride on, stopping, turning, riding on the right side of the road etc.), otherwise they may receive fines up to TWD 600 for violating the traffic rules (Articles 69 to 76 of the Regulations Governing the Road and Traffic Administration).