Exchanging Driver's licenses in Taiwan

But if you want to treat numbers fairly, what is the numbers of drivers in taiwan v Texas?

I think the only thing that lets the roads work in taiwan is that most people are very aware of what’s going on around them.

  1. In OECD countries, a death within 30 days of a traffic accident counts as caused by it. In Taiwan, the threshold is 24 hours. (Talking from memory here, please correct me if I’m wrong.)
  2. Americans drive much more and for longer distances, so the comparison should be per km/mile driven to make it more accurate.
  3. In Taiwan the accidents might be less lethal due to low speeds but there’s still a lot of injuries, sometimes permanently life-changing.
  4. Anecdotal evidence suggests statistics are not collected with the same level of diligence in Taiwan, and they certainly don’t need to follow the practices set by any organization they’re not a member of, and they’re not a member of OECD, UN/WHO, WB, etc.
  5. Accident rates in the US are already higher than anywhere else in the developed world. Why not compare to, say, Britain?

[quote=“res”]But if you want to treat numbers fairly, what is the numbers of drivers in taiwan v Texas?

I think the only thing that lets the roads work in taiwan is that most people are very aware of what’s going on around them.[/quote]

I was going to say you took what I said this past weekend to you in person and posted it here, then realized it was posted 2 days prior to our conversation.

Going along with res’ statement and working off of Doraemonster’s last point

[quote=“Doraemonster”]
5. Accident rates in the US are already higher than anywhere else in the developed world. Why not compare to, say, Britain?[/quote]

Comparing, let’s just say Taipei, to the states is not the greatest comparison, imo. In Taipei, driving is a luxury, not a necessity, whereas driving in the states (if you do not live in Chicago, DC, New York, Boston where there’s a subway system), is a necessity. So think about the skill level of people that are on the roads in the states. That can and probably results any many unskilled drivers on the road that probably should not have their license. Also, I know in Jersey, the road test is a joke compared to that of the Taipei road test for cars. The reverse S turn in the Taipei road test alone requires more skill than the entire New Jersey test. Now I’m not saying all the drivers on the road here in Taipei are skilled drivers, but I can assume there’s less unskilled here than in the states.

You get a very large amount of population here in Taipei are just down right scared to get behind the wheel.

I also had a friend from the states, a fellow ABC, that kept telling me how the locals “'don’t know how to drive” and that New York City is much worse than Taipei. To make it easier to read, our conversation:
-If they do not know how to drive, why don’t you get out there since you know how to drive so well?
-I would never drive here, they’re crazy, there’s so many scooters
-But if they don’t know how to drive, clearly you do, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you. Also, NYC doesn’t have scooters, how can it be crazier there?
-The taxi drivers
-Taipei has crazy taxi drivers AND scooters

She didn’t have much to say after I pointed out that if you say that people can’t drive here, but you’re unwilling to get on the road to see for yourself, you have no right to say people can’t drive.

[quote=“ranlee”]if you say that people can’t drive here, but you’re unwilling to get on the road to see for yourself, you have no right to say people can’t drive.[/quote]Bollocks. You can see it for yourself if; i) you get in a taxi, ii) you sit in the passenger seat with a friend; iii) walking on the road and witnessing people running red lights and people not giving way to pedestrians.

Bump.

I just went to the DMV a few days ago and wanted to get a 1 year extension/stamp on my AAA issued international license from the states and the DMV would not allow it due to my ARC expiring in 2 months.

I know the thread here or regulation states that you need to get the international license stamped within 30 days of the issued or valid, but that’s NOT the case. According to the guy behind the counter, as long as you have:

  1. ARC valid for a year
  2. Two passport sized pictures
  3. Valid overseas driver’s license
    (4). Bring your passport just in case

You are all set for that 1 year extension.

Does your ARC need at least 1 year validity? Mine has only 7 months because I renew it every year. Also, I have my local Australian license which is valid, but no international drivers permit.

I wonder if a Malaysian or Korean DL can be exchanged for a Taiwan one?

I have US one as well.

You can find transferrability by country (in English) on the MOTC website here: https://www.thb.gov.tw/sites/ch/modules/download/download_list?node=831dcd37-7259-47c3-9211-ffbf8dee35bc&c=89275811-dcff-4d14-877e-981db78a5b18

Malaysian and Korean license are both convertible according to the list, as are many US states.

They normally check that it’s 1 year validity, but sometimes it depends on who is behind the counter at the DMV.

I wasn’t sure if I should start a new thread so I’ll just continue here.

I have a UK driving licence and when I get to Taiwan I would like to get a scooter. Would my UK licence allow me to do this?

From what I can see from this thread I should get an international drivers permit from the UK and then when I get to Taiwan I can use that for a month and then go to a Taiwanese DMV to get a local licence.

Does that sound about right?

First and foremost, you need an ARC. This allows you to be able to buy a scooter and register it to an address.

Secondly, yes, I believe you can use an IDP to operate a scooter for 30 days or so, but after that, you will need to pass the written/road test for a local scooter license. The written test is quite easy and common sense. The road test is on a closed course and you could probably do it with one hand and blind folded.

Only downside to getting the local scooter license is it’s time consuming and if you’re working, you need to take some time off of work to go.

1 Like

Does your UK licence allow you to drive scooter(or any other motorcycle) ?. Despite what @ranlee says, if your UK licence allows you to drive scooter you can directly convert it to TW licence and no need to do the test.

I had my HK drivers licence(it had both car and motorcycle on it) converted to TW licence about 1 month ago, I got both car and light motorcycle(up to 400cc I think) without having to do a test.

@ranlee is correct, @morran01 is not. However, I will add that after the 30 days, you can go to the DMV to have it stamped. This will make your IDP valid for the duration.

UK does not have a reciprocity agreement with Taiwan (See page 3).

https://www.thb.gov.tw/file.ashx?id=80cf6983-dc94-4d15-9909-589f1e50a869

*250 cc

Edit: Actually, I’m a bit surprised they allowed you to exchange for the motorcycle license. That seems to be quite the rare feat here. So they gave you two separate licenses?

1 Like

Okay, I am mistaken. I assumed that most licences from the EU would be convertible to a Taiwanese licence.

And yes, I received two licences(weird they cannot put both the motorcycle and car license on the same card?)

For the basis for the conversion I used a HK licence which has both car and motorcycle.

I thought you needed to take your IDP to the DMV before the 30 days have passed. But I may be wrong about that.

1 Like

Yeah, I’ve been here too long and adopted some chabuduoism.

2 Likes

Congratulations to those from Israel, you can now convert your license:

Does anyone have recent experience “exchanging” a foreign license for a Taiwan license?

Questions:

  1. To confirm, the Taiwan DMV does not attempt to retain or destroy the foreign license ? That is, they only look at it to confirm it is valid and I would be free to go back to the foreign country and continue using it?

  2. To authenticate a US drivers license, does AIT have a form affidavit or do I need to bring one to the appointment?

  1. I was able to exchange my Texas DL last month and I retained my TX license as well.

  2. Make an appointment with AIT online and make sure to bring your drivers license with a copy of the front and back. They will give you a form at the counter. It’ll cost USD$50 for the notary and they also accept TWD.

4 Likes

The rules are different for different countries and states, depending on what the reciprocal agreement is. For some it’s an exchange whereby the original license is retained and a Taiwanese license given in return, for others simply showing a license is enough to obtain a Taiwanese license.