I’m not a city person an Kaohsiung Trafic patterns drive me nutso. OK. I’m turning into a road and have to options. The far right goes down and the left hand side goes over the bridge.
I was suppose to take the far right lane but I didn’t and went over the bridge. After missing my turn, the GPS calculated a new route and asked me to turn right which after carefully looking I did. Then I noticed that there were no “turn markings” or arrows in the road. There were no trafic lights. OMG, I may have turned when I was not supposed to basically crossing over a road.
Now here’s where it gets fuzzy. Either I saw a flash or I got so nervous and panicky that I imagined a flash.
I told my story to a Taiwanese friend. He said that I had no worries, if you were going to get a ticket i would have been given to me buy a police man. I have my doubts.
So, do you think I got busted? What would my fine be do you think?
Drugs, really? I made an illegal turn, or I think I did. Do the traffic cameras issue tickets for them in Kaohsiung and how much money am I going to be out of? There was no officer present that I know of.
I also live in Kaohsiung. It takes them a few weeks to get the photos processed and the tickets issued (I think they do them in batches.) I remember getting three in the mail at the same time once. For my scooter violation (turning right on a red) it was 800, expect double for a car. My best advice is sit it out for a few weeks and if nothing is there then you’re free.
Is it illegal in Taiwan to use those clear plates that bend the light over the license plate? Doing so obscures the plate partially or fully to the camera, but allows it to be visible from behind.
I think I’ll call the foreign service police from a payphone and ask.
I want to have the money ready.
In response to nonredneck, this question was covered on an interview talk show. Yes, it’s illegal. It probably won’t totally distort the image. The officer said that if they find that you deliberately tampered with the plates you will get an additional fine.
The officer further said that this method only worked against the old style photographic cameras. It has no effect on Video.
It’s not a huge fine. So don’t sweat it too much. And don’t call any police to investigate. It can take up a year to get those traffic light tickets. I got two before a full year after the violation.
And sometimes the lights flash but the camera is full already so you are ok.
They seem to like the camera revenue generator approach here over police confrontation approach in Taiwan. If it makes you feel any better, misery loves company. I lives in Tainan for 3 years and never got a ticket. After moving to Taipei, I got so many tickets. Now, I’ve figured out the rules and rarely receive one of those mailed camera tickets… Live and learn.
I was thinking that too, if you stop the person, they will make excuses or argue with you. Much easier to just send a bill. I have never seen a cop do radar in any city in Taiwan, highways excluded.
I just look for that bright yellow sign saying camera ahead and slow down. Past the sign, speed away. Also, Taichung has almost no cameras in the city that catch scooters. Taipei and Kaohsiung have a ton of cameras targeting the scooter lanes.