Increased fines for speeding, turn on red, not stopping before white line

There was a message going around my wife’s line group that said as of a couple days ago there will be huge fines for the following.

  1. Not stopping before the white line at a red light… $ 900
  2. Turning right on red… $ 5,400
  3. Speeding tickets will be over 6,000NT +$00 per Kph over the limit
    4, Running red lights at least $3,600.
    Verify and share stories…

For years now, almost everyonehere in Taiwan seems to be doing “right on red” thing. I wonder what reasons the authorities have for being so against it. I’m curious, what is the state of “right on red” in other countries? I really don’t know. I was a young driver when that was adapted in the states and was reluctant to do that until people behind me started pushing me… "

OTHER QUESTION: ICRT traffic trainer has been going on about “NO VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT DEVICES” are to be "USED IN THE CAR " once the car is in motion. GPS and Safety Devices excluded. What does that mean? They did not say “In view of the driver”, they said in the car, period. Does that mean the kids can’t watch movies on a back seat mounted tablet?

Great. Because last week I was crossing the road on the green man at 2 am and two police motorcycles, with no regard for me, went through the red. I had to stop for them. I even gave them a “hey” and the one just looked at me, turned his nose up and continued on his way.
I saw a police car parked in the scooter box while waiting for the red a few days ago, a tow truck parked on a crossing while the driver and cop went into the 7-11 for drinks, and I have often been behind cop cars doing 80+ on roads with posted limits of 40.
When the agencies here get their act together, maybe they can start fining and prosecuting citizens.

Police are immune. The CHP (Calif Highway Patrol) regularly speeds on our freeways in CAlif. We see em coming and we let em by, thats what we do.

Presumably most of the time they are speeding they are in a hurry no ? Like doing their job ?

On increasing fines: how silly, if it’s even happening. Increasing the punishment when enforcement is basically random won’t have much of an effect on driving behaviour at all. The fines don’t need to be particularly high - they just need to enforce the laws they already have! (I believe there’s a thread about the same issue with regards to drinking and driving.)

Yes, scooters pretty much ignore the “no right on red” rule, because they’ll almost never get in trouble for it.

From what I recall in Canada: turning right on red is legal, except in Quebec. Of course, traffic that has the green light has right of way. Many busy intersections do also have a sign prohibiting right on red at that intersection.

I’m no traffic or driving expert, but it seems to me that one good argument against turning right on red is that you’re going to interfere with and possibly endanger pedestrian traffic. If you’re busy looking for oncoming cars as you try to edge into traffic flow, you may not be paying enough attention to pedestrians in the crosswalk that you’re edging through; but on the other hand, if you’re turning right, you’re going to run into the same issue when the light changes and you’re turning into crosswalk flow.

Mind you, I still think that, assuming a decent level of driving on the roads and understanding of such concepts as right of way and physics, turning right on red should be legal.

And then there’s the driving in Taiwan.

[quote=“lostinasia”]

Mind you, I still think that, assuming a decent level of driving on the roads and understanding of such concepts as right of way and physics, turning right on red should be legal.

And then there’s the driving in Taiwan.[/quote]

Apparently I am not the only one who thinks Taiwanese don’t understand the laws of physics, especially while driving.

For human drivers, my personal preference is that cars should not be able to turn right at red lights (in countries which drive on the right). They take up a full “car unit” of space, which is quite different to the area of a pedestrian, cyclist or scooternarian.

Scooters turning right on red, though, I think is fine, as they are far, far, far less likely to cause an obstruction or interfere with the flow of traffic. (Although, congratulations Taiwan, I’ve still seen some scooter drivers here manage it!)

The law here is that you do not turn right on red lights, so I don’t. A minute in a stationary car isn’t going to kill me.

Although… actually… on Taiwan’s roads, maybe it will! Maybe people saw all the bad driving through red lights and parking in the middle of the road and driving on the wrong side of the road, and thought, “JIMINY CRICKET! The roads here are DANGEROUS! I need to complete my driving as soon as possible for SAFETY! So I will drive through red lights and park as soon as is possible for me to do so and drive on the wrong side of the road if it saves a few seconds!”

I see no holes in this theory.

As mentioned previously this is just another example of lawmakers trying to make the laws safer by increased legislation when the only thing needed was increased enforcement.

I don’t have a problem with increased fines since current fines (AFAIK) are just a slap on the wrist but it seems that fines are increasing 5x or more.

The problem with turning right on red in Taiwan is that nobody stops/yields and actually checks to see if traffic is coming. Even more frustrating is the green right turn arrow at some intersections that signals right of way when it is actually a right turn on red situation. I would have been clipped a few times as a pedestrian or on a motorcycle pulling into the box if I wasn’t looking for a car taking a right turn at max speed into traffic.

It’s just a rumor until officially announced. :2cents:

To be fair the local police often obey the speed limit, and we all turtle along beside them.

Those increased fines still seem very cheep compared to back home.
But as said by other posters, what’s the point if they are not unforced? I have done some retarded things in my car here,both by mistake and on purpose-only to realise a cop was watching. But they did nothing,where back home some things would if had me in court-probably to lose my driving licence for a while.

I never had the road rules explained to me,nor did I get tested for anything when they gave me my local licence and since then I have come to the conclusion that if there are any rules then no one follows them!

If I remember correctly, the rule in Canada (BC) is that it’s fine to turn right on a red, but you are supposed to come to a full stop, look and make sure the way is clear, and then proceed, only if you are not interfering with the traffic that is going straight through. The problem with drivers in Taiwan is the sheep mentality. one guy goes right on red, and everyone behind he or she blindly follows, without bothering to check whether or not the way is clear. So the intersection gets blocked with people who want to go straight through, because the people going right on red aren’t letting them. It’s a rule that works here. Most drivers don’t seem to be aware of anything that isn’t right in front of them.

They can levy all the fines they want. The problem is they don’t really enforce them. Nothing changes. I think the cops here are told to only look for certain problems during their shifts. anything outside of their problem of the day goes unnoticed.

I know for a fact the speeding tickets have gone up. My most recent was 23 kph over was 3500 NT. The officer who issued the ticket said it could be anywhere from 3500-6000 NT.

In Taiwan it’s probably a minimum of violators that are caught and acted upon. Sipping tea is more important, it’s building guanxi.

[quote=“canucktyuktuk”]If I remember correctly, the rule in Canada (BC) is that it’s fine to turn right on a red, but you are supposed to come to a full stop, look and make sure the way is clear, and then proceed, only if you are not interfering with the traffic that is going straight through. The problem with drivers in Taiwan is the sheep mentality. one guy goes right on red, and everyone behind he or she blindly follows, without bothering to check whether or not the way is clear. So the intersection gets blocked with people who want to go straight through, because the people going right on red aren’t letting them. It’s a rule that works here. Most drivers don’t seem to be aware of anything that isn’t right in front of them.

They can levy all the fines they want. The problem is they don’t really enforce them. Nothing changes. I think the cops here are told to only look for certain problems during their shifts. anything outside of their problem of the day goes unnoticed.[/quote]

You’re actually forgetting pedestrians crossing that same road … no one really cares, it’s the law of the jungle.

[quote=“res”]Those increased fines still seem very cheep compared to back home.
But as said by other posters, what’s the point if they are not unforced? I have done some retarded things in my car here,both by mistake and on purpose-only to realise a cop was watching. But they did nothing,where back home some things would if had me in court-probably to lose my driving licence for a while.

I never had the road rules explained to me,nor did I get tested for anything when they gave me my local licence and since then I have come to the conclusion that if there are any rules then no one follows them![/quote]
Are you surprised? Did you ever read the insane questions on the written exam in Taiwan?

[quote=“Belgian Pie”][quote=“res”]Those increased fines still seem very cheep compared to back home.
But as said by other posters, what’s the point if they are not unforced? I have done some retarded things in my car here,both by mistake and on purpose-only to realise a cop was watching. But they did nothing,where back home some things would if had me in court-probably to lose my driving licence for a while.

I never had the road rules explained to me,nor did I get tested for anything when they gave me my local licence and since then I have come to the conclusion that if there are any rules then no one follows them![/quote]
Are you surprised? Did you ever read the insane questions on the written exam in Taiwan?[/quote]

I never had to do any exam or test

The day that they actually start pulling people over for those reasons, is the day hell freezes over.

Cops don’t pull people over for speeding, the speed cameras get a nice snapshot of you and send you a nice notice via mail. You’d be surprised how clear that picture is even though you’re doing 70-100km/h

Personally, I get pissed when a car/truck are in the scooter box at the light bc it’s pretty dangerous for a scooter to start from outside of that box, but I deal with it.

[quote=“ranlee”]The day that they actually start pulling people over for those reasons, is the day hell freezes over.

Cops don’t pull people over for speeding, the speed cameras get a nice snapshot of you and send you a nice notice via mail. You’d be surprised how clear that picture is even though you’re doing 70-100km/h

Personally, I get pissed when a car/truck are in the scooter box at the light bc it’s pretty dangerous for a scooter to start from outside of that box, but I deal with it.[/quote]

I just memorize where all the cameras are. In the event I dont know the area, i just keep my eye out for the yellow signboard warning of the camera ahead.

Only got 2 fines in 3 years, one was in a tunnel and I didnt realize they can put a camera on the ceiling of the tunnel. A $1400nt mistake.

[quote=“dan2006”][quote=“ranlee”]The day that they actually start pulling people over for those reasons, is the day hell freezes over.

Cops don’t pull people over for speeding, the speed cameras get a nice snapshot of you and send you a nice notice via mail. You’d be surprised how clear that picture is even though you’re doing 70-100km/h

Personally, I get pissed when a car/truck are in the scooter box at the light bc it’s pretty dangerous for a scooter to start from outside of that box, but I deal with it.[/quote]

I just memorize where all the cameras are. In the event I don’t know the area, i just keep my eye out for the yellow signboard warning of the camera ahead.

Only got 2 fines in 3 years, one was in a tunnel and I didnt realize they can put a camera on the ceiling of the tunnel. A $1400nt mistake.[/quote]

Rule of thumb, never ever speed into, inside, or coming out of tunnels.

I don’t know why, but that’s where most of the speeding cameras are located.