Ok, so today I went to fengjia night market with my gf, and I’ve noticed this a lot before, but especially today. People just stop their cars literally in the middle of the road, like in traffic, turn on the hazard warning lights, get out of their cars, lock them and walk away, as if they have parked it. I don’t understand why people seem to think that doing that is ok. Also why don’t their cars get towed or ticketed for that?
There is no adequate explanation. As the months go by you will begin to shrug off these incidents, as they happen all too often. Have you taken the Taiwan driving test yet? Knowing what goes (and doesn’t go) on there gives you a solid understanding as to where all these drivers are coming from.
There is no adequate explanation. As the months go by you will begin to shrug off these incidents, as they happen all too often. Have you taken the Taiwan driving test yet? Knowing what goes (and doesn’t go) on there gives you a solid understanding as to where all these drivers are coming from.[/quote]
No, I don’t have an ARC, so I can’t get a license, but I’ve been told all about it by my girlfriend. Also apparently Taiwanese people have the attitude of “that won’t happen to me”, so they drive dangerously because they don’t believe that they will be in an accident.
I understand your frustration, people get hurt and die because of this stuff, and it’s all so avoidable with education. Double-parking the car and walking away is more likely to inconvenience people than cause accidents, but then again I’ve seen some cars double-parked in crazy places, just begging for something bad to happen.
Most of the time here people just don’t THINK about other people, or how their behaviour might affect others. It’s a sad thing, but you see it every day out there on the road. Thoughtlessness.
[quote=“Nuit”]I understand your frustration, people get hurt and die because of this stuff, and it’s all so avoidable with education. Double-parking the car and walking away is more likely to inconvenience people than cause accidents, but then again I’ve seen some cars double-parked in crazy places, just begging for something bad to happen.
Most of the time here people just don’t THINK about other people, or how their behaviour might affect others. It’s a sad thing, but you see it every day out there on the road. Thoughtlessness.[/quote]
Not just other people, think about your own property. Do you want your car to get towed or have something crash into it? I know I don’t. Maybe that’s part of the whole “it won’t happen to me attitude”, they just don’t believe that someone will crash into their car no matter where they leave it. I personally would feel extremely uncomfortable parking my car like that.
I’m pretty certain - as other people have mentioned - it’s because Taiwanese people are very poor at thinking ‘what if’. Remember the education system deliberately trains people not to think, not to question, and not to consider alternative interpretations. This creates the sort of person who, as he opens the passenger-side door having parked in the middle of the road with his hazards on, thinks “but what did I do wrong?” as his door and arm make their way independently down the road attached to the front of a passing bus.
Incidentally, careless parking is not just an inconvenience, it’s dangerous and it drives me crazy. My ex-gf had her collarbone broken (could have been much much worse) by being sandwiched between a fuckwit taxi driver and an illegally-parked vehicle.
Putting on hazard lights when parked in illegal parking areas simply means that the driver knows very well they are blocking people’s access and as a shallow sign of recognition signify they are in full knowledge of their selfish actions by turning their lights on. No, it doesn’t make sense, but that’s part of the driving culture. Go figure!
It’s annoying and dangerous, and I’ve often wondered what would happen if someone who got into a severe accident with another vehicle could charge the owner of an improperly parked car for criminal negligence, or the Taiwanese equivalent thereof. (For example, blocking the view oncoming traffic on the corner of an intersection, causing an accident between two other vehicles.) That being said, in busy areas, the parking situation is far from ideal. While I don’t condone it, I understand why people do it. Better infrastructure might reduce some of these occurences, but certainly not all; as most people have stated, some people are as egocentric as kindergarten students.
Unfortunatlly, I think if you hit an illegally parked car, you are at fault for not avoiding it and would be financially liable while the other driver might get a ticket for parking illegally only.
i know it’s weird but here you are resonsible for what’s infront of you no matter the situation.
I guess it’s all part of the mess that the driving system is here. The road system is a complete joke, and available parking along with it. We could barely get my gf’s scooter out of a parking space because of a jerk parked illegally with their hazard warning lights on. In the UK your car would be towed, that is if somebody didn’t crash into first. You would get a lot more than a fine too I’m pretty sure, although I don’t know the rules, because it’s not something I would ever do. It’s just like abandoning your car, I mean do people really not care about their own property?
They just fuck off, I mean literally just fuck off, for hours, go shopping or whatever. I have half a mind to key a rude message (in Chinese) into those bastards cars. In the UK it pisses me off no end when people park on the pavement, but this is definitely worse, I mean they just stop in traffic, they don’t even bother moving to the side of the road.
[quote="@NeiHu"]Unfortunatlly, I think if you hit an illegally parked car, you are at fault for not avoiding it and would be financially liable while the other driver might get a ticket for parking illegally only.
I know it’s weird but here you are resonsible for what’s infront of you no matter the situation.[/quote]
Yep, and I think also if you pulled out of a junction but couldn’t see because of a parked car, it’s still your fault. I’ve had that happen to me in the UK. A lorry, a big fucking lorry stopped in a bus stop (I think), in front of a junction when I wanted to pull out. I couldn’t see a fucking thing, so I just pulled out, and almost caused a crash. Yes I know it was a stupid thing to do, but the point is if there had been an accident it was my fault, because I could have creeped out slowly, or christ knows what, because I had no idea how long the selfish bastard would be there for.
The next time it happened, having learned my lesson from the first time I sat and waited for a minute or so before a kind person pulling in waved me out. In the UK if you stop in the middle of a motorway and somebody crashes into you, that’s still the person coming from behind’s fault, even though you stopped in an extremely dangerous place. Personally I think if someone parks illegally and and an accident occurs, then the person who was parked should take some of the blame for it.
In my case yes I could have done it differently and I accept that what I did was clearly dangerous, but at the same time there was precious little else I could do, and the parked lorry is clearly causing a dangerous obstruction by being parked illegally. I suppose I could have called the police, or gone and asked the prick to move his lorry.
But yeah, legally if you crash into a parked car it’s your fault, regardless of circumstance, even if it’s a selfish bastard parked in a dangerous place.
I like the way you can get these little printed cards that you leave in on the dashboard, apologising for the inconvenience, and leaving a phone number to call if you want the owner to come an move his/her car. I’ve never seen that in any other country. Some people can be quite considerate, you know.
Wasn’t she also telling you that a lot of foreigners here drive or ride scooters without a licence? I have been involved in 2 accidents here where I one once rear ended by one foreigner and another time side swiped by a foreigner with no licences here. They had to pay up. I was also rear ended by a police vehicle and they claimed it was my fault because I stopped to quickly. Actually I stopped when the lights turned orange and they accelerated to go through. They still had to pay though lol
Actually there have been court cases here where people who have illegaly parked vehicles causing accidents have been held responsible. So one whould not assume it’s always the fault of the driver that has an accident with an illegally parked vehicle.
In anycase if you are riding or driving without a licence then you have no rights under the law here in most cases, and if you are in an accident, the the courts may find you legally liable. I had a friend in Chiayi and she was hit head on by a drunk driver, and that driver got killed. She had a local licence. The family of the drunk driver demanded compensation for the death. She was barred from leaving Taiwan until the matter was settled and she was in no way liable for the accident.
However if you have a valid international licence and have been in Taiwan for more than 3 months, you can take a copy of that and have it notorized by the Police and it can then be used for the validity or 12 months without you needing an ARC.
Taiwan international drivers permits are issued for 3 years so it’s nice to not have to renew them every 12 months.
Call the towtruck company and have them send around a towtruck to tow the car. It only costs you a phone call, it’s anonymous so no need to worry about gangsters with baseball bats taking revenge and it works.
I’ve said it before. This whole country is double parked. Just look on the map and compare it with China.
Reminds me of the old Taiwanese joke.
A model parking lot is built by the United Nations and installed in several different countries. It’s the same size- 50 spaces. In Germany the lot holds 50 cars exactly. In Japan they neatly fit 100 cars.
In America there are only 20 SUVs parked in the lot. Taiwan however only manages to hold 2 cars. One at the entrance and one at the exit.
I used to get mad about things like double-parked cars or cars parked on the sidewalks, get into arguments, tell people off, bitch and complain online, etc. Now I just call the cops and report it. No arguments and much more effective than a whiny foreigner. I probably call the cops about this kind of stuff 4-5 times a week.
In addition, I notice that parking on the sidewalks along the street that I most frequently complain about has generally diminished over the last several years and the sidewalk is now pretty walkable by Taiwan standards. Not sure if it’s because of me, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt!
But actually I heard that you can get “rewarded” if you take a picture of illegally parked vehicles, etc. and send it in, and the photo leads to a fine. Anyone know about it? I would love to be able to earn some pocket $$ from my hobby!!
In Taipei, and to some extent in other cities, the number of available parking spaces has dropped dramatically over the last 10 years. All the huge, privately operated, street-level car parks have gone as the land has been used for construction of buildings. Bus lane/street widening has pretty much wiped out all the available parking along the main roads. The back alleys are always jammed full of scooters and dirty cars that are used once in a blue moon.
I think drivers are more or less forced to double park in most instances and the problem isn’t going to go away any time soon.
[quote=“Nuit”]I understand your frustration, people get hurt and die because of this stuff, and it’s all so avoidable with education. Double-parking the car and walking away is more likely to inconvenience people than cause accidents, but then again I’ve seen some cars double-parked in crazy places, just begging for something bad to happen.
Most of the time here people just don’t THINK about other people, or how their behaviour might affect others. It’s a sad thing, but you see it every day out there on the road. Thoughtlessness.[/quote]
The Xindian to Ankeng road, in Ankeng … strictly no parking red line all the way … go there any time of the day … people put on hazard lights and just park … it’s a very very busy road, 4 narrow lanes … buses, trucks you name it … never seen a car towed, seen lots of cops moving around.
Maybe now it eased a little as they opened the new express road …
[quote=“adikarmika”]
I like the way you can get these little printed cards that you leave in on the dashboard, apologising for the inconvenience, and leaving a phone number to call if you want the owner to come an move his/her car. I’ve never seen that in any other country. Some people can be quite considerate, you know.[/quote]
My wife did that last week, she parked her sister’s car somewhere I don’t know, she thought was an empty building … 2 AM some guy calls us awake … please move your car, I’ve got to put my car in the garage … 5 AM we had to wake up to go to a funeral … drowsy
gee u complain about taiwan traffic a lot…how long have u been living here?..have u got ur license to ride your scooter? if no then get it first then complain…
wait till u drive a car here, u’ll eventually will do the same i.e double park with hazard signal…
anyway, who never double park here?..be honest!