What I don’t understand is this… that in order to get a scooter license, you have to be tested on your own scooter?! That means, you must either get a friend or family member to take you… or just illegally drive one to the testing center, right?
And how can you learn how to drive a scooter “legally,” if there is no graduated licensing system?! Does it have to be totally illegal?
Also, I’ve heard that you have to pay a tonne of cash in taxes each year for cars. For scooters… is it just insurance that you have to pay each year?
Are you in Taipei? When you go for your licence you can rent a scooter at the test site for a few dollars, less than $100, I think. If you have your own and drive it to the test site no-one will question how you drove it there without a licence. f you get stopped on the road (highly unlikely, tell them you are intending to go to the test site).
[quote=“shawn_c”]What I don’t understand is this… that in order to get a scooter license, you have to be tested on your own scooter?! That means, you must either get a friend or family member to take you… or just illegally drive one to the testing center, right?
And how can you learn how to drive a scooter “legally,” if there is no graduated licensing system?! Does it have to be totally illegal?
Also, I’ve heard that you have to pay a tonne of cash in taxes each year for cars. For scooters… is it just insurance that you have to pay each year?
Thanks in advance!
-Shawn[/quote]
Most people just rent one at the DMV, but there is no reason you couldn’t use your own.
Yes, there are taxes to be paid on a scooter…Registration and fuel tax. But the amount is so piddly is not really an issue. For my 135cc motorcycle it’s about 800NT per year. Insurance is also inexpensive and a legal requirement to ride here. You could of course go without, and not have any issues whatsoever unless you get into a traffic altercation.
Pay your dues and get legal…I’ve seen too many cases of foreigners getting into traffic accidents that were not their fault, then having to walk away from compensation/paid repairs because of their dubious road legality.
[quote=“shawn_c”]What I don’t understand is this… that in order to get a scooter license, you have to be tested on your own scooter?! That means, you must either get a friend or family member to take you… or just illegally drive one to the testing center, right?
And how can you learn how to drive a scooter “legally,” if there is no graduated licensing system?! Does it have to be totally illegal?
Thanks in advance!
-Shawn[/quote]
For 50 cc, you don’t have to take a driving test so therefore you don’t need to ‘test’ on your own scooter if you are only getting a 50 cc license. Later, when you upgrade from 50 cc to higher you use your 50 cc scooter to take the test (yes, you can use a 50 cc scooter to get a license to drive something larger).
So you see, it makes perfect sense…you pass the written test for a 50 cc license…drive legally for however long it takes you to master the art of driving a scooter (or forever if you don’t plan on driving anything any larger)…then go back and get a license for a larger scooter.
[quote=“Vannyel”]For 50 cc, you don’t have to take a driving test…[/quote]I know what you meant, Vannyel, and later on in your post you mentioned it, but just to make it clear to the original poster;
for 50cc, you need to take a test, but it’s the theoretical part only. To prepare for this part of the test you’ll need to buy or borrow the test preparation booklet which contains all the possible questions and answers. The Chinese language one is sold in bookshops I believe, but the English language version is only available at testing centres AFAIK, and some of them only have copies to lend out, not to sell.
Vannyel, are you sure you can take the practical test on a 50cc and use the resultant licence to ride a bigger bike? I was under the impression you couldn’t, but if you have done so successfully or know someone who has then my impression was wrong.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“Vannyel”]For 50 cc, you don’t have to take a driving test…[/quote]I know what you meant, Vannyel, and later on in your post you mentioned it, but just to make it clear to the original poster;
for 50cc, you need to take a test, but it’s the theoretical part only. To prepare for this part of the test you’ll need to buy or borrow the test preparation booklet which contains all the possible questions and answers. The Chinese language one is sold in bookshops I believe, but the English language version is only available at testing centres AFAIK, and some of them only have copies to lend out, not to sell.
Vannyel, are you sure you can take the practical test on a 50cc and use the resultant licence to ride a bigger bike? I was under the impression you couldn’t, but if you have done so successfully or know someone who has then my impression was wrong.[/quote]
The practice test is available online in English - I studied it online and took the test here in Taipei. tcmvd.gov.tw/english/j.idc
All the scooters they rent at the testing center are 50 cc and if you only need to take a driving test for anything over 50 cc, wouldn’t it stand to reason you could do the same on your own 50 cc scooter? (quick disclaimer, I don’t drive anything over 50 cc so I didn’t take the driving test ( I did try and failed since I couldn’t balance good enough…this is how I know about the scooter size, etc. - the rent is NT$50, I think)). After driving almost a year, my balance is a lot better but since I am not buying a bigger scooter I don’t see any reason to test ‘up.’
[quote]The practice test is available online in English - I studied it online and took the test here in Taipei.
[/quote]
Just be aware that if you do the test outside of Taipei the questions will be quite different. It’s great for Taipei, but won’t help much for other places.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”][quote]The practice test is available online in English - I studied it online and took the test here in Taipei.
[/quote]
Just be aware that if you do the test outside of Taipei the questions will be quite different. It’s great for Taipei, but won’t help much for other places.
Brian[/quote]Yes. The test booklet gives the full range of possible questions.
Just an aside, your license validity is tied to your ARC validity. So if your ARC is up soon, you may want to wait until you’ve renewed it before taking the test, or take the moral high ground and use Hartzell’s administrative appeal to get the full validity.
