I don’t understand what difference it makes if a kid wears a helmet when its their torso which will be crushed between their parent and the handlebars they are standing in front of! 
I once witnessed a mother whacking her kid about after she had stopped suddenly and it had smacked its chin off the handlebars and started crying. “What are you crying about?” “Shut up!” I think were her words. I’m perplexed on a daily basis! 
News today talking about two month old kid was killed in motorcycle accident…seems mom was clutching the baby while driving.
I remember a news report in past in which child was killed and parents blamed government for the shoddy road surface which they said caused the child’s death. The parents did not mention no helmet for kid and their obvious reckless driving.
I wonder when will the police get their act together and realize that due to fear of the martial law Taiwan has almost became lawless. I wonder maybe people will start packing heat (even though it’s against the law but then laws don’t matter here) because cops don’t care (and people don’t trust cops to protect them)?
[quote=“Flakman”]News today talking about two month old kid was killed in motorcycle accident…seems mom was clutching the baby while driving.
I remember a news report in past in which child was killed and parents blamed government for the shoddy road surface which they said caused the child’s death. The parents did not mention no helmet for kid and their obvious reckless driving.[/quote]
I also saw a news report about a dad who’s adopted son died in the back of his car whilst playing with the electric windows. He strangled himself after wringing his own neck with the window. Of course it was a natural and fateful occurrence the way the news broadcast it and the father was beside himself.
Needless to say nobody, including the police asked why the three year old wasn’t restrained in a car seat as the law requires. 
Hwor Gi!
This isn’t a problem, it’s an opportunity.
The majority of Taiwanese drivers (both cars and scooters) are completely inept and oblivious to the law, never mind concepts like courtesy or even checking their mirrors before changing lanes.
The Taiwan government should use the poor economy as a chance to encourage and enforce good driving habits. Give people the choice to either slow down and obey the law, or be unable to drive because they can’t afford the fines and penalties.
At least the pedestrians in this place would be better off.
Looked out the window this evening to see some a-ma heading home from school on a scooter. She had a helmet. Holding onto the back of scooter and being towed along was a 7/8 yr old kid on roller-blades. He had elbow and knee padding. And a flimsy looking helmet.
Ladies and gentleman, this is MADNESS of the highest order. Do not try this on a street near where you live. In fairness she was driving pretty slowly.
I know it’s hard to change things here in Taiwan and in many places but somebody’s gotta do it… It’s the “it sucks here let’s go somewhere in search of a better life” mentality that drives people to immigrate which consequently it means tons of immigrants flock to the USA and other Western countries causing them to make it harder to get visas there. Then what you have left is the countries they just left from doesn’t get any better, it just gets worse. I think if people just tried to make things better where they are there would be no need for people to flock to other countries looking for a better life.
This was my all time fantasy as a 7 year old and this bastard gets to do it. Naruwan, baby.
[quote=“sulavaca”]I don’t understand what difference it makes if a kid wears a helmet when its their torso which will be crushed between their parent and the handlebars they are standing in front of! 
I once witnessed a mother whacking her kid about after she had stopped suddenly and it had smacked its chin off the handlebars and started crying. “What are you crying about?” “Shut up!” I think were her words. I’m perplexed on a daily basis! 
[/quote]According to Article 88, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of Regulations Governing Road Traffic Safety, “only one passenger may be carried in the rear seat for heavy and general lightweight-model motorcycles that are equipped with a permanent seat behind the driver.”
I just thought I’d share a video I toll today whilst driving.
I can’t seem to upload too clearly to google vid though.
Pink writing with arrows says “two infants without helmets plus two adults on scooter.” “Lazy Taiwan police”
I also realize the audio comes several seconds before the video. Bloody Google and Youtube. Why can’t I upload a normal video format to them?
To be honest I don’t think she would have understood, and even if she had, wouldn’t have understood what the problem was. If you’d said something about the alck of helmet, maybe… but probably not.
I am quite certain she would have understood and indeed she confirmed it by pointing at the individuals and then laughing before riding off. I have never known anyone incapable of understanding the dangers of four people including two unprotected infants on a scooter, especially police who are trained to give out tickets on command.
So basically you are suggesting that a police officer who is paid to tour the streets on a scooter looking for law breakers would probably not recognize such an infringement. I have been around long enough to know that’s not the case. I was merely impressing how lazy, crap and useless they are.
[quote=“sulavaca”]I am quite certain she would have understood and indeed she confirmed it by pointing at the individuals and then laughing before riding off. I have never known anyone incapable of understanding the dangers of four people including two unprotected infants on a scooter, especially police who are trained to give out tickets on command.
So basically you are suggesting that a police officer who is paid to tour the streets on a scooter looking for law breakers would probably not recognize such an infringement. I have been around long enough to know that’s not the case. I was merely impressing how lazy, crap and useless they are.[/quote]
I think we mostly agree. I’m sure I would have handled the situation the same as you did, or similarly. It’s good that you took the vid, and posted it, because I think it can be helpful for laowai generally to reflect on what they say in this kind of situation to achieve the most satisfactory outcome.
No, I don’t think people here necessarily think the same as you and I about what is dangerous and what is not. Dangerous means whistling in Ghost Month or sitting too close to the telly. If the dangers of seating too many people on a scooter were apparent to most Taiwanese people, then presumably most Taiwanese people wouldn’t do it!
Police officers are not in any event looking for dangerous situations to thwart, they’re looking for people to bust (on a list of offence quotas, which probably does not include helmetless children). It’s not an offence she’s trained to notice: just part of the normal street scene).
If you’re right, and she did realize when you pointed it out to her, I’m not sure what she’s supposed to do at that point. She’s already been sitting at the lights for some seconds, and hasn’t taken any action; probably, she would have no idea what to say to the people, not having thought about the helmetless kids issue before. Probably she does the same thing with her own kids when off duty.
Her laughter is prompted by embarrassment; it’s not because she thinks it’s funny, I suspect.