It seems the drink driving message is still not getting through, begging to be let off after being caught is just embarrassing. If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime!
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Which country can you do drunk driving? Well not many, but in Taiwan you sure can drive and park like a drunk.
What “time”? The noxious practice of commuting prison time into a fine (usually, for the rich in Taiwan, comprising some pocket change) continues to rankle. 
Guy
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I hate crossing this particular area because a lot of cars just drive far out to see traffic and don’t really slow down or give any space for pedestrians when driving sober, obviously worse when drunk.
What are the chances someone like this are back on the road again in a few years and cause another drunk driving accident or worse next time…I would say it’s a somewhat decent chance. In Taiwan people often say the fines should be higher…but the thing is that’s just something done AFTER the incident.
I see less talk about things being done to prevent or reduce these incidents to begin with when talking to some local friends usually. The solution, at least for most locals I’ve discussed this with, is just increase the fine.
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Most of drunk accidents or other kind of accidents can be avoided by just not giving your spoiled teenage children expensive cars to ride around their gfs all over the city with full speed. If its your own car you bought with your hard earned money, you are more responsible in handling it. Not all cases though. Sometimes people are just plain dumb doesnt matter sober or dunk
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Yes indeed, the ability for the privileged in Taiwan to (openly) pay their way out of time is bizarre and obnoxious. In this case however it will very much depend on the offenders raison d’être in Taiwan. If he’s here on a standard ARC time in a cell pending extradition is a possibility!
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it does seem to be changing a bit. Only a few years ago the guy who killed 2 foreign students in Pingtung paid their parents and spent 1 night in jail.
Things seem way more harsh now.
I like to keep an eye on dangerous drivers, kind of a a demographic hobby. The worst are the professional drivers: blue trucks, taxis, food delivery. Uber are usually OK here
Non pros, the worst on scooters are women. Old women who putt along without paying attention, and young women moving through the herd like they’re more important and owed a fast track to the front
Non pro cars, it is middle aged men that are the biggest dicks. If there is a car parked in the scooter box, it’s a dude over 30. Same with guys that nudge me out of the middle lane because they’re too useless to use the car lane that i cant use
Not a perfect representation, because speed and tinted windows can make it difficult to see all the time, but in my experience in Kaohsiung teenage boys are not the worst drivers. Probably the best
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It’s utterly baffling why this wide-spread phenomonon in Taiwan is not illegal.
Guy
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Does it help with the sun?
Edit: nevermind, I just did my reading on this (never owned a car, never cared to know)
No doubt. And it also prevents basic eye contact to occur with drivers, many of whom then drive with reckless impunity.
Let’s see them try that with transparent windows.
Guy
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As a pedestrian I have noticed this, another reason I believe Canada is more pedestrian friendly
It seems from my quick reading that a lighter tint works fine for blocking sun and glare, while the darker tints are dangerous for night driving. There are no good reasons to have a fully blacked out car, but since the people in power have the vanity and desire for privacy it probably won’t change
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I noticed this wasn’t a thing in china. I made eye contact with a guy who didn’t want to let me pass and he did the duibuqi duibuqi act. In Taiwan they do nothing they just keep pressing you to get out of their way.
The only real counter to the tinted windows is making the physical stop gesture with your arm. It’s such a deliberate thing it cannot be ignored.
The problem with that approach is you (as pedestrian) really don’t know where that driver is looking—to his left, at his phone, potentially anywhere but in front of the car.
It’s dangerous af. Those tinted windows should be illegal!
Guy
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In downtown Taichung the other day saw an older guy pushing his special needs and wheel chair bound son or relative around and when trying to cross the street at a small crosswalk with no light there were a few scooter drivers who honked at him and sped up through the intersection and not a single scooter or car wanted to wait a few seconds to give the man and his son a few seconds to cross the street, despite probably heading to a red light just down the road.
Remember when the newly formed committee about these traffic issues said Taiwan already has a culture for yielding to pedestrians? Yeah I have no idea what Taiwan they are living in.
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It definitely helps, but honestly I don’t know if it would make too much of a difference at this point. Drivers here are professional jerks, they will see right through you the same way people on scooters do.
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The anonymity of driving behind black-tinted windows really pushes people to drive worse.
If you are driving, you should be held accountable of your power to physically hurt people around you.
It’s bizarre to me that most of the time we don’t know who is driving a car, nor how much are they paying attention.
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I rented a car once with that kind of heavily tinted windscreen. Scarily difficult to see properly at night and even just when it’s overcast. Mind boggling why it’s not taken care of.
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The same complaints from 2006
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At their phone…
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