Coping with local driving conditions

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There’s an old saying that states :

“In Rome, act like Romans”

Specifically, I have reached the conclusion that it’s actually more dangerous in Taiwan to respect the signs, lights, continuous lines, etc… And lethal to believe that the other drivers will behave in a predictable way.

Any thought ?

I find the drivers fairly predictable. Just think of the most idiotic, inconsiderate and dangerous course of action that a driver could take and 9 times out of 10 that’s exactly what they will do.

I agree 100% with the above statement. :bravo:

[quote=“camalolo”]There’s an old saying that states :

“In Rome, act like Romans”
[/quote]

This might be sound advice in some cases, but if your chariot should happen to bump into another, you’d better hope you speak pretty good latin. If you don’t, the centurions are likely to take you to the coliseum and feed you to the lions or, at the very least, relieve you of a substantial amount of your bullion.

CK

Well said. Eight years driving here and that very logic has kept me accident free to date. :sunglasses:

CK

[quote]There’s an old saying that states :

“In Rome, act like Romans”

Specifically, I have reached the conclusion that it’s actually more dangerous in Taiwan to respect the signs, lights, continuous lines, etc… And lethal to believe that the other drivers will behave in a predictable way.

Any thought ?[/quote]

I do not agree in general with this.

The basic rule is to always make your intentions known to others:
always signal in advance before turning, changing lanes etc.
make no sudden manouvers (braking, turning etc)
be visible (turn on the lights in dusk or rain)

I drive a car and it applies fine to Taiwan: especially because of the large
number of scooters (make sure you signal when turning right)

The signs, lights are pretty badly engineered here (at least
compared to European average). Interestingly part of the traffic law
I was thought applies here when talking about priority:
traffic lights: highest priority,
signs,
road marking: lowest

Running red light is pretty much dumbest thing one can do.
I have seen many spectacular crash scenes at those elusive
“empty road so I run the red light” junctions.
How hard do you brake when stopping for the red light?
If you have to brake hard you do something wrong.
(or the yellow is to short)

On the other hand the road marking is crappy (e.g. three lanes
changing into two after junction) Hardly anybody follows it.

BTW the Rome saying applies the most to the driving style:
in Taiwan lots of lousy driving is tolerated at the cost of slowing
down the traffic. So be tolerant.
Taipei is a bit better in that matter (and less tolerant :wink: )

This style has its pitfalls. Ever seen people joining highways here?
You are supposed to accelerate on the shoulder and then join.
I see people joining at 60kph when left lane traffic (trucks!)
goes 100+kph.

Another rule repeated by my driving instructor back home:
always accelerate when changing lanes.
Nothing is more irritating (or dangerous if you fail to notice)
than having to slow down for someone cutting into your lane.

Przemek

I always disobey the bike laws by driving down the cenre of the road instead of down the bike lanes at the sides.

Reasons: you have a wider range of view and better view down sideroads.

          Cars wont turn right around you, pushing you into other bikes, the pavement or parked cars

          You can see clearly the cars coming towards you.

          Thee are no ther bikes: they're all in the bike lane.

          In the bike lane, you have no time to react if something comes out at you.

I’ve got two tickets for this so far, but I wuld prefer to do this and pay the money than get mangled by a shitty blue truck that accelarated past me and turned right without indicating.

Reports say 9,000 tickets issued yesterday in the bid to enforce traffic laws here in Taipei. Anyone get nabbed? Curious to see how long this latest drive holds up before the authorities return to their normal complacency.

CK

Hi,

I am not familiar with official Taiwanese driving manuals, haven’t taken driving tests here, etc. So, I’m only basing my opinions on what I see. What is see, like many non-Taiwanese, is nearly total driving chaos. I’m still amazed that there isn’t an accident every 15 minutes at most intersections.

What I’m wondering about now is whether the driving reflects in any significant way the driving laws, or whether the laws are similar to Western countries, but simply disregarded by nearly all drivers?

Seeker4

[quote=“seeker4”]What I’m wondering about now is whether the driving reflects in any significant way the driving laws, or whether the laws are similar to Western countries, but simply disregarded by nearly all drivers?

Seeker4[/quote]
The laws are pretty much the same. The basic problem is that people get licenses here without being able to drive. I’ve met many Taiwanese who have a driver’s license, but have actually never driven a car on a road. The driving schools here are a joke. Basically, you get your license and then learn to drive by trial and error. The kind of emphasis on safety that my high school driving class had is completely missing here.
One acquaintance insisted that even though she had never driven a car before, she could start by driving to Chiayi, because the road was a highway, and therefore well-paved and straight. The fact that the traffic would be going considerably faster than in the city didn’t worry her at all. She was only dissuaded from this suicidal plan because everyone else going on the trip refused to get in the car with her.

The laws are pretty much the same.[/quote]
Depends on your point of view. I can’t tell many countries that would so clearly discriminate motorcycles. Basically, a bike here does not have any more rights than a bicycle, but still experiences a number of obligations (tax,…).

The rule to keep bikes on a small lane next to the road causes quite a few problems, like when cars want to turn right. And just look at the questions for the driving license test if you want to have a good laugh…

I’ve been driving in Taiwan for 18 years all told, most on a Vespa, the last 12 months in a car and I would say there is one key rule followed by Taiwanese drivers, namely you are only responsible for what is in front of you. It is entirely the business of the guy behind you to make sure he doesn’t hit you whatever damned stupid thing you do. In fact it is not stupid unless you actually hit the guy in front. This “nobody cares about the guy behind” also applies to you of course, you can change lanes at will and not give a toss who you are cutting off or what grief you are causing. On the other hand, I remember riding a motorcycle in India

Unwritten rule for all drivers…its your responsibility to anticipate what other drivers are going to do next, not theirs to inform you of their intention.

For instance if a taxi driver plows over you when he is pulling across three lanes to get a customer… he is not his fault… it is your fault for not anticpating this… he can even back up his logic with a baseball if you challenge him

Signalling with your turning/indicator light is not to show intention…its to avoid the new traffic law and fine

The rule of thumb with regards to driving in Taiwan is that if you hit someone, you’re at fault. It’s a big game of chicken.

There is no ‘right of way’. Granted, times and behaviours are changing, but this is a cultural thing and it’s just the way it is. Better to be aware of it and accept it rather than trying to understand it according to some foreign set of road rules.

Here’s a question:

Do you think the extent to which road rules and traffic bylaws are flaunted, ignored, disrespected, etc. in Taiwan is indicative of the relationship the general populace has with the LAW in general? Do you think this extent of cheating, bending the rules, etc. is going on all over the country (eg. contract law, real estate law…) but those broken rules are simply not as obvious to us?

I think that traffic law IS a litmus test for overall observance of the law.

So I would say not that the Taiwanese have a weird relationship with driving so much as they have a weird relationship with Taiwanese law (but they seem to be fine once they immigrate to Canada, which is curious.)

What ?!? !!

According to this logic, if you hit someone in a vehicle going the wrong way on a one way street, you are responsible !!!

That can’t be right !!! Is Taiwan civilized or not ???

[quote]The rule of thumb with regards to driving in Taiwan is that if you hit someone, you’re at fault. It’s a big game of chicken.
[/quote]

Actually, it’s usually the fault of the person with the least amount of Guanxi, regardless of the real laws or circumstances of the accident.

Oh no! I think I’m really in trouble – I don’t think I have any guanxi at all (but then, I don’t know what it is). :laughing:

Seeker4

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Guinness is ever better for you!
www.guinness.com

traffic laws are only sporadically enforced. seems everyone knows when a crackdown is going on. then we drive carefully. a few days later the crackdown exercise has ended and the police all return to the cop shop. bedlam resumes.

people drive like they do because they know they can get away with such.

don’t enact laws you have no intention of enforcing.

You are absolutely right, I have had friends given tickets and paid large fines for an accident with a vehicle that was speeding in the wrong direction on a one way road, they had no guanxi, so the cop placed fault on them with the logic