Nice morning. Driving downhill through a village near the school, with the sun dancing on my dirty windscreen, maybe doing about 50. If I hadn’t to teach later I’d have been feeling pretty good.
Glance over at a nice trad house I was passing, which is slowly falling down. Didn’t have to do that, I’ve seen it before. Dunno how long that took, but less than a second.
Look ahead again in time to see a scooter just finishing peeling out in front of me, dead centre in my lane and hardly moving. Yell, swerve out, and then swerve back in time to miss oncoming truck.
I’d guess this might have looked a routine manouvre to an external, (Taiwanese) observer, but it wasn’t. It was bloody close, and could easily have involved a head-on with the truck, which was going pretty fast.
You just can’t afford to relax out there. I knew that, but forgot.
Naw, it’s a good reminder, Ed. It’s always good to be reminded. It’s a pretty dangerous world out there, and a reminder, based on one poster’s close call, and the resultant awareness, can be the difference between a child growing up with his dad, and one growing up with just a mum, and only pictures of his dad to remember. I have friends who have lost their husband in this traffic, and their kids are growing up with only one parent. Glad you’re okay.
And to state the lesson between the lines… if Ed had rear-ended the idiot on the scooter, under 'wan rules, Ed’s at fault automatically… he’s waiguoren.
yeah, my friend died under a cement truck near New Garden CIty in Xindian. A taxi overtook the truck, crossing double lines(which means NO over-taking) and still the court case went on for years because they said he would have swerved the other way to avoid the taxi coming towards him if he wasn’t a foreigner.
I loooooove riding up these mountain roads, checking out old building and different neighbourhoods, but you always have to keep in mind that a dog may run out of the bushes, or even, your scooter may fall apart under your butt. So never ride so fast that a simple fall would be the end of you.
Yeah, my bro’s best friend’s brother died, simply cause he was going a bit too fast. A little slower, and he might have maintained control on that curve, but instead, he lost it, and hit a telephone pole.
You never know when there’s going to be a bit of loose gravel or oil on the road, or a dog or kid runs out in front of you, or (often) some idiot pulls out of a blind alley without stopping, looking or yielding.
Not that it matters much now, but I was driving a car, not riding a scooter.
Of course normally that’s much safer, but not this time.
On a scooter or motorcycle I could probably have missed the idiot while staying in my lane, and I THINK my conditioned reflex to avoid hitting 2-wheelers is much stronger (“at all costs” stylee) while driving a car.
On a motorcycle I’d certainly choose to hit a 2-wheeler over a truck. In a car, with a straight choice, not so sure.
My car is small, light and old, and would be likely to do especially badly in a head-on with something substantial.
