Can anyone help or point me to a link on road rules and laws. Can’t find anything.
Can big bikes go on the Highways like 1 and 3 and 5 through the tunnel to Yilan?
Where CAN’T big bikes go?
Can big bikes use the scooter boxes at corners?
Can big bikes turn left at intersections like car?
Yes, I have my Taiwan big bike license through a course, but they don’t teach that. They only teach how to ride circus tricks.
I don’t really want to ride on highways, but there are times when it might be convenient. This week I’m riding a 1000cc with red tag.
I think they can’t get on the toll highways due to the e-Tag system (the cameras get the plates from the front, and not all red plates have visible tags). The non-toll roads are fair game.
I’d also like to know about turning left with a red plate. Common sense would dictate that since the red plates are usually longer and have a larger turn radius than the usual scooters, they should behave as cars. But then again, I haven’t been able to find anything about that.
I believe Taiwan treats yellow and red plate bikes as cars so when in the city you can turn left at junctions and don’t need to use the scooter boxes, as for using highways, you can’t go on toll roads and the main highways, the best thing to do is look for the sign at the entrance of the road, if you can see a car and big bike you can use it.
[quote=“tango42”]Can anyone help or point me to a link on road rules and laws. Can’t find anything.
Can big bikes go on the Highways like 1 and 3 and 5 through the tunnel to Yilan?
Where CAN’T big bikes go?
Can big bikes use the scooter boxes at corners?
Can big bikes turn left at intersections like car?
Yes, I have my Taiwan big bike license through a course, but they don’t teach that. They only teach how to ride circus tricks.
I don’t really want to ride on highways, but there are times when it might be convenient. This week I’m riding a 1000cc with red tag.[/quote]
No, they can’t be ridden on national highways. Only Expressways, but they are allowed to ride on city bridges and tunnels that many 150cc scooters cant.
I actually don’t think the big bike are supposed to use the scooter boxes, but I am not entirely sure. I doubt you would get a ticket for it. Big bikes are supposed to be treated like cars. They aren’t allowed to even split lanes, but of course they do. Yes, they can turn left at intersections. Basically you are a car, but you can’t ride on national highways, and I doubt you ever will…at least not for years. The government would need to redo the ETC toll system to allow motorcycles.
Big bikes need to follow most of the rules cars have, except driving on FREEWAYS. Highways in Taiwan are just normal roads crossing the country. You can drive on most expressways although some have signs that says NO big motorcycles.
And no you can not use the scooter boxes.
So to make it clear, you have Freeways, Expressways and Highways.
I’m not sure if the following information pertains to expressways or freeways. However, it is an amendment from 2011 stating the eligibility of red plate bikes to use, I think, freeways.
I know there is the issue of tolls so I’m not sure. I had to use Google Translate but hopefully someone who can read Chines can make sense of it.
I know for a fact that red plates can take expressways. I have taken them plenty of times. I also know for a fact that they can make the left turns that cars can (that’s not always, my friend). Sometimes, there are parts (the beginning?) of some highways that are shared with red plates, but I’m not 100% if they are truly in the highway or just at some road that joins one thing with another.
Supposedly you should be parking at the scooter parking spaces, but I’m not 100% sure about that one, but YOU CAN NOT use the scooter boxes. Nevertheless I use both sometimes. If I see people riding without helmet and even carrying babies, and not getting fined, what’s the big deal about doing what other two wheel vehicles around do? Now, you don’t want to park your expensive bike in a place where another 2 or even 20 scooters will squeeze…
Red plates are not as functional as scooter in many regards, but beat them in others like expressways, visibility, reliability (?), power, response… I’m loving my F650GS Dakar for commuting every day, and not only for that but also for getting to many incredible places that would be a pain in the ass to get to if I were riding something smaller. But it’s also true that due to my height (relatively short and relatively short legged), I also get into troubles in certain steep roads, for I can barely tip toe on it… xD
I hear you about the short legs for I am in the same boat. If I were to buy a yellow or red plate, it would need to be something with a lower seat height; a maxi scooter or a cruiser. I don’t like the feeling of being on my tip toes.
99% of chances are that I’m going to get a r1150r and sell, not with sadness, the Dakar. The problems I have with it is when going slow. When riding it over 20km then it handles just incredibly. People who ride with me know what I talk about
[quote=“jesus80”]
Supposedly you should be parking at the scooter parking spaces, but I’m not 100% sure about that one, but YOU CAN NOT use the scooter boxes. Nevertheless I use both sometimes. If I see people riding without helmet and even carrying babies, and not getting fined, what’s the big deal about doing what other two wheel vehicles around do? Now, you don’t want to park your expensive bike in a place where another 2 or even 20 scooters will squeeze…[/quote]
THIS is what annoys me… particulary at shopping centers, I do not want scooters scratching up against me, that being said, on a busy day, I can’t find a space big enough to park anyway… :/…I’d be more than happy to pay car space money to get a safe space… :/…
And locals don’t seem to be in the know either, a couple of months ago when the wife was in the post-natal care center, we rented a parking space under the building. On sunny day’s I’d ride in, but was told by security I wasn’t allowed to park in the space which I had paid for, not only that, but bikes were not allowed… scooters were, but not bikes… WTF?!?
I have both a Yellow and Red license plate motorcycle, and NO, you CANNOT part in a scooter parking box (at least in Taipei) where I got a ticket of NT$600.00 for illegal parking. So you are supposed to be parking in car parking spaces in the streets, public parking spaces, etc. (and funny yet, I had someone remove my heavy bike from parking space so he could park his car!)
A red/yellow license plate can make left turn directly just like a car, problem sometimes a cop at intersection might flag you down because you riding a yellow license plate, where he assumes you are a normal scooter. Got flagged many times on my yellow license plate scooter. No problem on my Gixer red license plate.
Mainly places where they use e-Tag on freeways, you can’t use neither red/yellow license plates yet, but still in the approval stages from different counties in Taiwan, actually the law passed at the legislature, but nobody wants to implement it, as nobody from the government wants to have a horrific record of motorcyclist dying like flies on freeways if they are allowed to. I guess it takes some time!
Any more information that people have you be great because I will be riding on the road soon (hopefully) as I took ownership of my Diablo last week and next week I have my test.
Motorcycles are allowed on Freeways here in the Bay Area. Even Vespas. I don’t see a lot of Vespas (other then the one with 3 wheels), but I see a lot of big bikes.
And yes, unfortunately one or two of them lose their lives each week !! Probably mostly because a lot of riders are very reckless. They weave in and out of traffic, whizzing by at 90mph, etc.
It’s not surprising that a car or truck driver can not see a bike coming and turn into its path.
One rider impacted himself and his moto into a big truck last week. That Freeway was closed for hours while they cleaned up the pieces.
Of course. Why not? what it’s not allowed is to take many children with no helmet on your scooter and… well, you have seen around, right?[/quote]
I’ve seen around indeed, and what I’ve seen is that there is absolutely no correlation or logic between the degree of traffic violation and the possible trouble you can get for it. I mean, on scooter I’ve got a (much) bigger fine for failing to stop in front of a green light pedestrian crossing (I slowly passed between two groups of pedestrians that had like 10 meters in between) than for driving without a license. And for the latter I was even able to freaking negotiate the fine with the cop, under the promise that I would go pass the exam soon (which I did)… :loco:
This is what will happen when big bikes are allowed on Freeways. IT is what happens here in the Bay Area.
And each week one biker dies this way. Usually they are going something like 80 to 90 mph and weaving back and forth through traffic.
All it takes is one time for someone to fall and get run over for it to be another fatality.
I can see Taiwan bikers doing the same thing.[/quote]
I can’t see why this is a problem? At the end of the day we all take risks knowing the possible outcomes… it’s rare for anyone in a car to be seriously hurt from an impact with a motorcycle, therefore motorcyclists are unlikely to harm anyone else…
Yes but most motorist don’t really want to be responsible for a death of a rider. The Bay Bridge has had so many biker fatalities that there are now signs warning drivers of this and to watch out for bikers.
