So just like any other issue on the island.
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Yesterday, I saw someone with extremely tinted windows pull out of a parking garage then open their window so they could see out and safely pull onto the road. Ridiculous. I’ve also started to notice tinting when I’m in taxis/Ubers. I’ll get out of the car and suddenly everything is much brighter.
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It’s almost as if they’ve never heard of sunglasses here. Aren’t those pretty standard accessories for driving?
You can remove your sunglasses when you drive in the dark, but you can’t remove your windshield tinting.
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Yeah, and then drivers still expect pedestrians to see their hand gestures to wave pedestrians across…
As a pedestrian, I never know if the driver has seen me or not if I don’t see which direction they’re looking…
Probably the biggest “advantage” of tinted windows is that the police won’t be able to tell who is using a phone while driving.
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I never understood this either. They will use umbrellas to protect their skin when it’s sunny out but don’t give a single shit about their eyes.
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In the past few years they have started installing equipment in various areas to detect vehicles that are way over the noise limit and issue tickets, however I think the limitation of the current setup is that it’s hard for it to determine which vehicle is the one making the noise when you have multiple vehicles in the the same spot at the same time.
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Compared to how many people, including scooters with no tint, don’t bother to look this isn’t so bad!
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Or just make stupid decisions…
Such as this, in Taichung on the main road Taiwan Blvd. a driver cuts from the inner section (fast lanes) over 3 lanes (plus a divider) to turn right and hits a scooter driver who is going straight.
Here is the dashcam footage of the car that almost hit this lady. You can see she almost drove right into a bus as well.
According the the comment left by the dashcam car owner the lady who caused the accident didn’t call emergency services at all. She only called her hooligan friend who came over to say he would take the blame for the incident. So seems like this driver has some reason to not get involved in an incident…
or how about this dumbass with his girlfriend on the back, both no helmets, and run a red light with traffic coming both ways…
or shit like people just driving into the road never looking…
Or the ever so stupid overtaking cars in the middle of the intersection because god forbid they stopped in the middle of the road for a reason. Here the driver stops to let a mother and her 2 children cross the road on a crosswalk…the car from behind immediately overtakes him in a double yellow section. Afterwards the mother starts running across the road with her children to get off the road faster.
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This article has me a bit more hopeful. I think the easiest way to see if an area is adequate for pedestrians is the wheelchair test. Can someone in a wheelchair comfortably pass through. I suggest that such tests should be done by the mayors themselves to show their commitment and dedication to improving the pedestrian situation, especially after years of non-action and blood constantly being spilled on our streets.
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I’m surprised that Taiwan doesn’t have disabilities laws that cover sidewalk width and accessibility.
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I saw a video once in which they made the transport ministers ride bikes while having buses and cars pass them in close proximity to make them aware of how pedestrians feel. Forgot where was it.
Anyway, only the people who walk mostly as pedestrians can understand the issues regarding it. All those people in power and who are making policies ,who takes their car just to go to the familymart in the next block will never truly grasp the difficulties of being a pedestrian.
Take these ministers out on the street. and make them live whole day as a pedestrian in not so convinient areas so they can truly feel the experience or even better, make them ride a wheelchair and ask them to go from one place to another
You cant really know how hard a hammer hits unless u take it one yourself.
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I think I know exactly which video you are talking about, although I think it was bus drivers in Central America that had to sit on a bike whilst a big truck/bus blew past the side of them. I bet if they had to be like us, the Central Govt. guys would just take the MRT in Taipei and think, wow so easy, no need to change anything! They should regularly be forced to use public transportation in various cities. Also at times be forced to commute to work using wheelchairs or crutches to understand the actual needs of the people. If you can meet these peoples’ needs then you improve accessibility and convenience of walking for EVERYONE. Especially as Taiwan is an aging population…you would think this is a no-brainer.
@user86 I believe this is the relevant law.
People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act, under the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Article 54
The roads, streets, sidewalks and arcades in urban areas shall meet the related access-free regulations and directions prescribed by the central competent authorities in charge of specific business.
Article 52
The municipal and county (city) competent authorities of individual levels and purposes shall provide the following services to encourage people with disabilities to participate in social activities:
- Leisure and cultural activities;
- Sports;
- Access-free to public information;
- Fair participation in politics;
- Law counseling and support
6. Access-free environment;- Assistive device, installation, appliances of technology and services;
- Social propagation and education to the society;
- Other services related to social participation of people with disabilities.
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=D0050046
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So I guess the law is there. Where is the execution?
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I’ve never owned a motor vehicle in Taiwan. Is there any kind of vehicle inspection that such vehicles must pass on a regular basis?
Because noisy exhausts and dark matter windows, among others, can be controlled during such inspections.
Sure, inspection done by the same shops that installs the noise kit and dark tints.
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Currently no regulations/inspections for tinted windows at all. Regulations likely to start with just taxis soon/this year though.
As for noisy exhausts…I’m not sure if there are regulations for scooter shops about installing these.
Should be rather simple to regulate these and installation of such things and fining scooter/car shops for installation of them if they don’t meet regulations/standards after they pass regulations/laws/standards in the future.
Maybe you can ask the the few people in the Taiwan subreddit who always come out to say the situation is very exaggerated or the way things are are fine, even though everyone else thinks things are well…pretty crap. By those low standards this law is unnecessary.
Bonus points if they say they only live in Taipei or make comparisons to SEA countries.
For cars they test brakes, lights and emissions. Further they look if car was modified from the specification in the vehicle registration. e.g. wraps must be registered
Frequency of the checks is based on the age of the vehicle.
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When vehicles change hands they must be inspected, at the transportation office not a repair shop. Some modifications are red flags and the sale is blocked. I wanted to make a cosmetic modification and the mechanic advised against this for that reason. However, it is also possible to keep original parts and swap them out for inspection
Also, by law after 10 years the motorcycles are supposed to be inspected every 6 months, but i don’t know the details (or is it every year? Is it just exhaust?).
Since my motorcycle is less than 10 years old and I’m not selling, no need for an inspection, so I’m not 100% sure on all the details
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Yes, every 6 months. Tests and price are the same.