I’ve driven in Australia, Europe, USA and Japan and am quite terrified here! I’m just not quite sure what is going to happen next. A turn right from the left, a left turn from the right, wrong way down the one-way street, baby driving the car, blind man on a bicycle, family of 7 on a scooter doing a u-turn, crane unloading bath for a 7th floor aprtment, stalled taxi, 7-11 truck delivering eggs on a 3 wheel trolley, large pot-hole in the road and a dead dog in the gutter - all at the same time at one intersection. I 've rediscovered prayer and carry a hip-flask.
Interesting thread, guys. I’m waiting on my ARC renewal, then I’m going to have to go through all this myself.
I’ve been driving 20 years and don’t really think there’s much I’m going to learn from an instructor here, except for what to expect in the test. From what Bu posted above it doesn’t sound like a big deal, although I’d like to size up this ‘S’ bend etc before trying it for real.
(Why do people make such a big deal about reversing anyway? I took a turn that didn’t work out a few days back and had to reverse 50 metres or so, and my passengers seemed strangely impressed. Standard stuff. Why even comment on it? Making your car go where you want it to seems like something you would want to get the hang of if you’re going to drive.)
Question is, how do I go about this? I basically want to do a practise test and then go do it for real. I absolutely am not going to pay for a course. And my chinese is on a par with my ability to play golf or beat my way through solid rock with my forehead.
And I can’t find the link to the written test in English. Anyone?
I suggest going to a driving school and asking them how much for an hour or two, preferably with an instructor (and maybe a friend to help you translate) who can tell you what the examiners expect at each stage of the course.
I took the test recently and I will admit it was difficult (for a driving test). I didnt take any classes and I passed. I made a 74 with a manual… I screwed up right away on the backing up in a parking space, I have never had to do this and I hit the line right away, but after that I have no clue what I messed up on except for the fact that the test instructer kept telling me to slow down???
are there many “boy racers/barryboys” around in taipei city? everyone seems to accelerate really smoothly here, even the mitsubishi evos, and ‘done-up’ cars, in the UK those bastards are a regular occurence.
Huh? As I understand it – which means this is what my driving school in WenShan (district of Taipei) taught me – you only lose points crossing the line on the S-curve going forward. You do not lose points if you cross the line reversing out. The ONLY thing you lose points for is if you miscalculate the angle of your turn and have to stop move forward and have another go.
To get the reverse S right, it does help to angle your side mirrors down a bit. And you don’t need them for anything else on the test.
I find that I even change the position of my right hand side mirror when parallel parking (having electric mirrors is essential of course). Street parking spaces in Taipei are always small and sometimes really tight and you need to get it right first time or you’re screwed. Last time I was in London (July) I was shocked at the size of the metered parking spaces. You could have parked a truck in them. Not here, no way.
Just passed my test on Wednesday- I’ve ben driving for more than thirty years, though I’ll be the first to admit I’m not great- not in a car anyway; give me a Kawi and a twisty road…
Anyway, I paid for an hour of instruction beforehand, and unless you’re very confident in your skills I’d say it’s a good idea- the test is quite strange if you try it at one go.
It also helped to show me why the drivers on this island are the way they are- as Bu Lai En said, absolutely no relation to driving on the street.
“Back until your shoulder is in line with this post, then crank the wheel exactly twice; back until you see the second yellow dot…line the bolt of the front mirror to the spot on the curve of the S-bend…”
You most certainly do (at Shulin 6 months ago anyway). The guy in front of me (I was int he back seat) was instantly failed for this and had to walk back to the building in the rain.
the whole driving test is a crap shoot - i brushed the crub on the s when in reverse, and the tester said jai oh, bu shin ting che “keep going, don’t stop.” what i got out of it was that as long as i didn’t go OVER the curb, no foul
the foreigner before me obviously failed, he came walking back to the office swearing about what a load of BS the test was. didn’t help to see that. but i’m pretty sure that speaking some chinese helps - the guys were impressed, and were trying out taiwanese during the test - i was trying to keep it within mandarin that i could understand.
just to repeat, it’s an utter load of manure, and a complete scam with everyone passing money about (the “trainers” for example, who turn the sensors off if you attend their driving school). not much different from the place where you get your emmisions check done, if you are stupid enuf to go to the government one (as i was - once). passed, but needed help there too, from one fo those friendly guys who takes $400 NT to take your car thru the test for you. he liked the fact that a foreigner wanted to try alone, so he passed a few secrets along.
however, in the end, it’s just a different way of getting things done.
You’re not the only one who hates that “s” curve forward and backward thing. I remember talking to one of the examiners before the test and he was asking what driving tests are like back home. I told him and he remarked that it seems too easy. “Well,” I told him, “In my country, driving tests are done on the road, in traffic. They are testing your ability to drive in traffic safely.” I kept what I thought about the fancy parking lot manuvers to myself. It suffices to say that it is obvious why people drive the way they do here: driver’s ed is geared toward passing that silly test and not effective driving in the real world.
The secret to the “S-factor”: take a really small car along when you go to do the test - a Mini or a Twingo, if you can get your hands on one. Couldn’t imagine dealing with it in a Benz or a Caddy!
Will be getting my car license as well as scooter license (for +50cc) when I return to Taiwan…
Anyway, my brother-in-law was relating to me about the practical part of the driving test. He then went on about some “S” bend part of the test in which you had to drive through an “S” and then reverse through it…
Now, I am a pretty confident “Reverser” and have no problems parallel parking and such, but was informed by my young friend that this “S” part was EXTREMELY difficult… judging by what I have seen of drivers in Taiwan I cannot imagine any part of the driving test being overly difficult…
Anyway, can anyone comment on this or indeed any part of the car licensing test that was at all difficult?
Hi Daryl, I moved your post here as there are lots of comments on the S curve and other aspects of the car driving test above and in the two previous pages of this thread.
Any recommendations on driving schools in Taipei for a crash-course (pardon the pun) on the practical part of the test? How much per hour do these places charge and what kind of hours do they operate? I’d be doing the test at TCMVD, so a school with similar cars to those used at TCMVD would be ideal.
The course I did was about 10000 for 30 hours. I don’t know what the hourly rate woudl be, but you should be able to guess from that. If you do enough hours with them, you should be able to use their car for the test. No particular recommendatios though, but I’m guessing they’re much of a muchness - just go to the one closest to you.
