one of the mottos for taxi drivers.
I seem to meet a disproportionate number of folks who are fond of using their high beams in the city. The future’s so bright I can’t see where I’m going!
Guy
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Anybody ever gone up the hills outside Taoyuan where the stray dogs are dumped . That place was freaky.
The thing that I found the most frustrating is the super dark tints and mirror tints that effectively negate the type of communication I am used to back home- waves, nods, etc. People in cars generally cannot wave, nod, or whatever because you can’t fucking see them. As a pedestrian if you wave, nod, or whatever, there is no recognition because you can’t see the driver. Instead, road communication is either ignored or accomplished via body language, i.e. small or big moves with your vehicle or body to signal what it is you are trying to do.
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No, please describe. Already sounds weird. Dumping purebreds?
Just hundreds of dumped dogs running around . People from Taoyuan go up there to dump them and there’s a shelter there too.
Then some other Buddhists or something are feeding these dogs as well. It’s pretty scary cos of the numbers running around better hope they aren’t hungry or not cycling thru them !
BTW an animal shelter was caught recently just dumping some of their dogs nearby . They have received a dog with a chip and then chucked it outside. The owner found out and went to collect , nowhere to be found, turns out it was running around outside ! A bunch of the govt dog shelter workers got fired.
And there it is- Taiwan’s stray dog problem is by far more of an indicator of it’s lingering third worldism than the traffic is.
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i’ve seen another place near beimen, an abandoned building or something that was full of stray dogs. freaked me out. what baffs me is that the dog problem ain’t even on the fucking radar. people say its better than it used to be but some problems can’t be trusted to sort themselves out. dumped stray dogs are not going to stop breeding just because you want them to. things need to be done about it.
i would say its equal. along with the pollution.
i’ve seen things with the driving that just disgust me. such as a blind man unable to cross the street because some cunt parked his 4x4 in the crossing. or a bmw prick speeding down a road and swerving instead of slowing down when what looked like a 90 year old woman was hobbling across the road.
Yesterday I saw something that nearly made my jaw drop- three Hualien police going down the beach park esplanade and kicking out the scooters. They even gave an unattended one a ticket. I felt a combination of joy and confusion. I really couldn’t believe it because scooters are omnipresent, and especially around dusk the place is usually pretty inundated with them and bike riders and pedestrians and children and little dogs.
Previously I had complained about the idiot teenage boys who regularly insist on riding their scooters super fast on that little narrow and crowded stretch of pavement. They’re young and dumb, I get it, and this taiwan where people put up with a lot of crap that they shouldn’t. But man, how about park your noisy little bike in the parking lot and walk 4 minutes to the water? Some brilliant people insist on illegally driving their cars on the promenade, and get away with it.
Anyways, it was glorious and I doubt the enforcement will last but it was pretty wonderful to see it. Which was something I noticed right away about Hualien vs Taidong- the cops here actually enforce some traffic laws once in awhile.
I wonder does the tow truck there get a share of the fees? Seems make them working better here in Kaoshiung.
i guess somebody complained? which makes me think, do things only get sorted when people complain? do laws seem to more enforced back home compared to here because people complain more and here people are just chill?
The same ones who park with their engines running and take a nap with the AC blasting.
Blah blah blah …You need new material dude. If you think this place is so shite they why stay around and bitch about it? The 886 doesn’t need anymore miserable whiny expats waxing mournfully about how shite it is here . If your life sucks Go home,
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If you call 1999 or the equivalent number down there the police are duty-bound to respond.
In my opinion the police just avoids all difficult confrontations here. Maybe not every policeman, but a good part of them.
I also lived in Taipei where my traffic experience is pretty good. Now this is about Hsinchu, the Guang Fu road area (very busy and terrible street going inland to the science park and then to Zhudong).
This is the land of the oh so educated and rich engineers and new their cars. Just a random street view pic during low traffic hours:
In the evening it’s 10 times worse with trucks and busses speeding on the inner lanes. Scooters have to evade on the inner lane too, so they don’t crash in the parking cars. Car drivers don’t see a problem, obviously they only get some food which just takes 10 minutes. And by the way, warning lights are activated, so it’s save.
What is the police doing? Giving tickets to parked scooters near the Xinzhuang train station (expensive area with new streets, sidewalks and without traffic problems). They even gave us tickets for parking the scooter on suitable areas, where it is not even forbidden. I guess most people will not pay these tickets, but the police was busy.
And yes, my girlfriend complained about their “priorities”. The police claims to patrol Guang Fu road 24/7, we just don’t see them. Ok, as we are driving the street every day I can say that they only do 2 things:
- Come to the traffic accidents
- Scare away the wrongly parked cars, but they don’t get a punishment. Of course they drive one time around the block and come back to collect their food.
Rant end.
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Taxis seem to be missing from this list. I’d rank them between 3 and 4 in that list,
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i’ve just recently noticed the cars parking on red lines problem as i’ve started riding on the roads more, because i thought it would be easier with the smoother road surface and no people to deal with. well riding on the roads isn’t any easier due to all the parked cars. i’ve even seen some cases of 2 wide parked cars WTF. people also open their doors and get out without looking and also pull out infront of you when you are right next to them. i’ve just taken to calling everyone twats as i guess nobody will know this word.
Eh nope. Unless it was another dog, the elderly dog was dumped by the shelter in a ditch way high in the mountains. Luckily, it was a small cute dog who attracted the attention of a young couple…
People are not ‘chill’ people are scared for confrontation, which makes the bullies powerfull.
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