I’ve been in Taiwan for 10 years. In my opinion if you cautiously follow all the street markings, signs, and traffic laws, then you are already dead and are reading this from an internet connection in heaven or hell, wherever you may be.
Let’s be serious, in Taiwan? the traffic is W-H-A-C-K-E-D and clearly it’s every man (or woman) for themselves.
Thanks for the tip, I’ll try the Guinness with two “n’s” in future!
I saw the weirdest thing a couple of weeks ago.
The traffic lights at the Xinsheng/Xinyi intersection completely died, and the traffic flow IMPROVED. People waited patiently till their way was clear, drove in an orderly fashion, and even let pedestrians cross the road without trying to see how many they could cripple! And this was BEFORE the cops got there to control it all!
Then later that day the lights were back up and traffic was as terrible as ever.
The Taiwanese general direspect for traffic rules is symptomatic of their disrespect of rules in general, as witnessed by things like illegal betelnut stands, blocked sidewalks, illegal construction etc.
I have found that a solid driver education from back home has helped me a lot here.
Mr. He, I couldn’t agree with you more.
I can’t tell you how many times my life has been saved by always shoulder-checking no matter what the circumstance (even when you think you’re alone) in order to change lanes…staying in lane no matter what…being careful about braking (re: who is behind you)…looking left then right then left when crossing an uncontrolled intersection…the list goes on. Driver ed in Canada saved my life in Taiwan. I can think of several instances where I would be dead now.
I have a funny story: in Kaohsiung in 1997, I was riding a 125 cc Sangyang behind a huge truck…on the outskirts of town…through an intersection that crossed a busy highway. A tai-tai who couldn’t drive was waiting at the light to make a left hand turn through our lane and onto the highway. The light turned amber and she panicked, running out of time…gunned it behind the truck (blind to what was coming)…and slammed into me. I don’t know how it is that I am alive.
The betelnut stand saw the whole thing and vouched for me and then when the cops arrived the betelnut stand took over the negotiations and that tai tai had to pay repairs for my motorcycle. Her car had a HUGE dent in it! I still can’t believe I walked away from that one. Thank-you betelnut guys!!! Wherever you may be!!!
Possibly not the right thread but I need a rant. After expecting it to happen for the past year and a half it finally happened yesterday. Some prick in a Mercedes drove over my toes whilst I was waiting in the SCOOTER/BIKE/MOTORBIKE ONLY waiting area. Unfortunalety the lights turned green and he was off before I could inflict any damage on his lovely car. Anyway it got me thinking about other things that pissed me off about taiwanese piloting things with more than two wheels. The one that really gets me is people driving in the scooter lane and using the hard shoulder. Now outside of the Taipei it seems that the police do precisely fuck all to stop this kind of behaviour. Cops here are basically lazy and useless (though very friendly when I ask for directions 
). So I think we need to take certain aspects of road law private. Appeal to the profit motive in every Taiwanese. In the UK councils contract out the traffic warden role to private companies and they are much more efficient. So i think the government here should give licenses to approved companies to video and photograph certain traffic violations (driving in the scooter lane, creeping at traffic lights, speeding etc) and send out fines, and force the police to concentrate on stopping acts of DANGEROUS driving which they seem to scared to deal with at the moment. I think the profit motive would lead to a much higher level of enforcement than we have now.
Rant over.
[quote=“butcher boy”]I think the profit motive would lead to a much higher level of enforcement than we have now.[/quote]It’s the profit motive that puts us the current situation of heavy enforcement of speed limits via sneak methods (hidden cameras, airborne surveilance) at the expense of other, probably more dangerous problems. Even in Taipei the rule seems to be that if enforcement is possible by camera then go for it, otherwise ignore. The few exceptions to this being the traps for DUI and turning right on red (which should be legal anyway). Why is this? Because it delivers the highest cash returns for the investment of equipment and manpower. In this respect, Taiwan is almost exactly like the USA.
[quote=“Kick-Stand”]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.)[/quote]
It is my opinion that you have hit the nail on the head with that hypothesis.
This is worthy of a full exploration. I also think it has its roots in the complete lack of accountability and responsibility that looks to be taught to male Taiwanese children from the cradle onward.
Very good call on your part.
relate the lack of shoulder-checking to the “you are responsible for what’s in fornt of you”.
my wife cringed every time i shoulder checked for the longest time, all the while telling me how unsafe it was. i patiently explained the blind spot (which is a new thing for most taiwanese drivers i have spoken with), and while she sees the merit of it (now), she still feels that you must focus all of your energy on the moron in front of you, as you can NEVER EVER know just what the @#^%!@#$% he/she is going to do. That 1/2 second may be just too long, and give some ass the chance to cut in front of you and slam on the brakes, no matter how much space you originally left between you and the car in front of you.
That’s why I suggested farming that stuff out to a private contractor and legally obliging the police to concentrate on dangerous driving. eg tail gating, undertaking, driving without due care and attention etc… The police would get a cut from the money the private company gets, and be forced to do a proper job.
I can dream for a while at least… 
Thanks for the heads-ups from Mr He, Spack and Maoman. (For those who missed it, the original poster deleted the content of all his/her postings, contravening no.1 of the Forumosa rules and making this a somewhat confusing thread.)
I’ve given the thread a new title and reconstructed some of the original post.
Please continue…
[quote=“butcher boy”]
That’s why I suggested farming that stuff out to a private contractor and legally obliging the police to concentrate on dangerous driving. eg tail gating, undertaking, driving without due care and attention etc… The police would get a cut from the money the private company gets, and be forced to do a proper job.[/quote]Nice idea, but the concensus among my sources is that traditionally most cops choose this career because they only want to do things that are easy and profitable, not difficult or dangerous, and everyday experience supports this. Usually they have failed at the civil service entrance exams and/or the military application process. These are people looking for a stable position as a rice-worm, not some crime-busting hero. I’m sure there are more exceptions these days, but it’s still the rule. The resistance from the force to move toward having to actually tackle this side of the job would be immense and reach from top to bottom.
Too true. I think when pussy makes it into the dictoinary the definition will state ‘the majority of taiwanese policemen when called to do their duty (with the exception of a valiant few)’.
Just to show that taiwan is not the only place with arseholes who lack any conception of lane discipline check out this from the beeb http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3730884.stm[color=darkred]New signs aimed at road hoggers
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[quote=“Dangermouse”]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.[/quote]
you are indeed danger mouse, there are nice bumps in the middle, and I nearly got squished between a bus, and oncoming cars, granted i found it quite fun but, hmmm, I think I know what you mean - tis all about common sense. Driving down the middle is kinda good.
I couldn’t resist posting this
taken from a speech given by bo yang:
You’ve (foreign countries) got pedestrian crossing lines painted on the street; we do too, but in China they are there to make it easier for cars to run pedestrians over.
how apt …
So that’s what those black and white lines are for… 
another pedestrian crossing rule i have noticed here (and i must admit that i’m fairly new to the scene) is:
‘my mercedes is bigger and blacker than anybody else’s, so get out of my bloody way even if the light is red and you’re already half way across’
scooting is certainly an interesting way to get around taipei! just as well i have all those years of motorcycle courier training to fall back on…and several extra pairs of eyes…on swivel mounts…
come to think of it, would that work if i just painted them on the helmet?
[quote=“urodacus”]
…scooting is certainly an interesting way to get around Taipei! just as well I have all those years of motorcycle courier training to fall back on…and several extra pairs of eyes…on swivel mounts…
come to think of it, would that work if I just painted them on the helmet?[/quote]
No, you MUST NEVER do that (paint eyes on your helmet). That will lead the other drivers to think that you see them, and they will not stop - “Hey you were looking at me, so YOU should stop…”
not that that stops them doing anything anyway. still can’t get over people (blue trucks, taxis) turning right from the centre lane at 50mph…relying on fast reflexes and good brakes instead of painted eyes now: thanks for the advice.
…on second thought, maybe a real “evil eye” could give you some protection…
I’d like to expand on that. Have you noticed that ALL the intersections controlled by 2 traffic lights (as opposed to 4 lights, one on each corner) has the lights on the wrong side of the road? This is without exception, so it can’t be a coincidence. The only reason I can fathom for this major engineering blunder is that their engineering schools must be using a training manual from Japan (where they drive on the left side of the road).