[quote=“touduke”][quote]Well, she figured wrong, didn’t she. Running red lights is dangerous no matter how many cars are in your field of vision. Red light means stop on any road I’ve ever been on in more than a couple dozen countries, including Taiwan.
And specific to the OP, the OP had the green light. Period.[/quote]
she will probably not agree with the first sentence here, and that is why she got upset with Taigottawaana.
Traffic regulations are clear, red light means stop, no argument here.
The point I’m trying to make would be that the way people in Taiwan deal with the law, including police men, judges, lawyers as well as beetle nut ladies and noodle stand laobans is that they reserve the right to override the law according to the situation or their own feeling or needs.[/quote]
She would be wrong. Running red lights is dangerous, whether one agrees or not.
And your observation of how people in Taiwan deal with the law is spot on, but does that justify the behavior? Should the next native English speaking teacher busted for teaching Kindy use that as an excuse? I can tell the government that it doesn’t meet my needs to pay the registration on my car? Of course not.
no, that would not follow the logic, that once you get busted, you are busted
unless the police or lawyer concerned feels the he wants to override the law according to the situation or his feelings or needs.
no, that would not follow the logic, that once you get busted, you are busted
unless the police or lawyer concerned feels the he wants to override the law according to the situation or his feelings or needs. [/quote]
You have a knack for describing the attitude here. Doesn’t make it right, or less dangerous, though.
[quote=“touduke”][quote=“citizen k”][quote=“touduke”]citi k
I am not joking [/quote]
I realize that: I was laughing at you, not with you. Your justifications are plain :loco:, imo.[/quote]
what justification?[/quote]
The fact that you explain the woman’s logic implies that you either think she is justified in her own mind or that you are just trolling for an argument. Either way, very :loco: , imo.
correct, driving in Taiwan is often rather dangerous, especially if you don’t know how many people think and act and drive.
I just tried to explain the woman’s behavior to help taigottawanna to understand why the women got irritated.
If you know how traffic works here driving becomes much less dangerous.
It’s like in all places.
so what is your idea about the woman’s assessment of the situation?[/quote]
How could I possibly know that? maybe she was drunk. Most likely having gone to the same driving school you went to I guess she was completely oblivious to the fact she went through a red light, and reacted in a predictably 100% emotional fashion without regard to the facts of the situation.
Your take on this is so far off the mark as to be completely ridiculous. Please tell me where you tend to drive so I can stay far away. Yes I understand the “optional” aspect of traffic regulations here but that doesn’t extend to nearly causing an accident in an intersection I think the importance of the red light in that regard is understood Believe me if the shoe was on the other foot that would very probably quickly be made very clear.
Sadly true. But you know what they say about assumptions, right?
[quote=“touduke”]and about asking students, sorry, they figured out a long time ago how to answer questions, but [color=#FF0000]this has nothing to do with
real life
[/color].[/quote]
The highlighted part being key, and speaking volumes, here…
sure they get a little confused. You are not supposed to ask this kind of questions. it is probably a non-sensical question to them.[/quote]
Also, sadly true.
No. They don’t reserve the right to override the law. Ever.
no, that would not follow the logic, that once you get busted, you are busted
unless the police or lawyer concerned feels the he wants to [color=#FF0000]override the law according to the situation or his feelings or needs.[/color] [/quote]
Sorry, but I think you are slightly confused over the actual meanings of “reserve the right” and “override”.
[quote=“touduke”][quote=“citizen k”][quote=“touduke”]citi k
I am not joking [/quote]
I realize that: I was laughing at you, not with you. [color=#FF0000]Your justifications are plain[/color] :loco:, imo.[/quote]
what [color=#FF0000]justification[/color]?[/quote]
Honestly. Dictionary.com
[quote]jus·ti·fi·ca·tion
a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation that justifies or defends: His insulting you was ample justification for you to leave the party.[/quote] Online Translator.
Exactly! :bravo:
[quote=“touduke”]If you know how traffic works here driving becomes much less dangerous.
It’s like in all places.[/quote]
But then why do so many born and raised Taiwanese get into so many traffic accidents on a daily basis. Many often fatal. Just do a search on Youtube. Although, driving around on a daily basis should give you at least one or two (maybe more) first hand experiences.
I’ve repeatedly done an “experiment” where I count how many traffic violations I see in a 2km stretch of driving. I’ve never picked up less than 19. And many involve at least minor accidents. So your conclusion is somewhat illogical.
The only thing that Taiwan traffic is far better at than where I come from is there is far less road rage. Which is odd considering the high proportion of fender benders. Although, this often isn’t the case if a lone female is involved. The guys usually get quite aggressive with them, and old people. But that’s a topic best not gotten into.
And finally: I’ve always thought the problem isn’t so much that people drive with absolute disregard for the law, common sense and traffic regulations, but that they don’t look. They will willfully and purposely look in exactly the opposite direction of oncoming traffic or potential danger and walk/drive (often with small children) into an accident. :loco:
This is why I think everyone should be allowed to own guns in Taipei. No more retarded annoying beeotches thinking that they can curse their way out of anything, no more gangsters breathing heavily down on you because they’re the only ones with guns, and society might actually be more peaceful for a bit.
I can see guns leading to MORE posturing and threatening, and perhaps some “he [strike]cut me off in traffic[/strike] gave me the finger when I cut him off in traffic so I’m going to pull up behind him at the lights and blow his brains out”.
Really, there’s so LITTLE road rage and road violence in Taiwan… why give them guns?
Then why do roughly 85% of drivers follow the traffic rules in a given situation? At most stop lights it is the majority of drivers that follow the rule and come to a halt at a red. It the 10% plus drivers that pull dangerous moves in a given traffic situation. In reality most follow the traffic rules. It’s the roughly 15% that drive us crazy. And those people are simply acting on selfish impulses.
This sounds like foreigner-turns-local syndrome. Progress CAN be made in traffic problems here. Once helmet laws were passed and ENFORCED traffic fatalities went down significantly. Same for drunk driving. It’s the let-sleeping-dogs-lie attitude that keeps progress from being made.
“I am quite sure that the red light does not mean the same thing for her as it means for you and me.” I see it this way.
But don’t forget the flexibility with which IMO many Taiwanese handle situations. On a intersection with lots of cars speeding people stop at a red light, I do not suggest otherwise.
IMO here in Taiwan people deal with all kind of rules & signs & regulations in a way unknown to Westerners, not just traffic signs.
I am not complaining about that and I certainly think that things should improve. And improve they do, as someone else wrote.
But back to the way people handle signs, regulations.
A while ago I wrote about playground signs with show completely nonsensical indications (ground is only for kids between 6/12 years, even though they are clearly designed for toddlers). It’s not only that people don’t care what is written there, even the people who decided to bring them up, and put them in the ground seem not interest in the content and its usefulness.
Again I am not complaining about that people don’t care for those regulations, nor about the nonsensical content of those signs, I simply
wonder why they put up signs at all if the information is nonsensical and nobody needs them.
Bismarck, I read you posts and your reaction to my writing.
Thanks for pointing out a mistake I made.
you are correct
this sentence is wrong.
It is not true that the police or a lawyer can or do simply override the law. This was sloppy thinking and writing from my side.
However I do think that there is considerable space and flexibility in this area as well.
[quote=“ice raven”]I can see guns leading to MORE posturing and threatening, and perhaps some “he [strike]cut me off in traffic[/strike] gave me the finger when I cut him off in traffic so I’m going to pull up behind him at the lights and blow his brains out”.
Really, there’s so LITTLE road rage and road violence in Taiwan… why give them guns?[/quote]
Well, we don’t need gun control. We need bullet control!
There’s always a transitioning period which costs lives.
And yes, I am sprinkling bits of delicious sarcasm over this post.
i had an aunt move from taiwan to stay with us in LA when i was a kid. she had a drivers license so my pops gave her the keys to our mustang. first time out, we almost all died. i then had to explain to her the significance of a stop sign. they have those out here, but are routinely ignored.
[/quote]
