[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 )
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