There’s no question in my mind that the Taiwanese as a society have decided to simply give up on trying to make pedestrian crossings safe. I see people running red lights through pedestrian crossings in front of a police station near my house EVERY DAY. The cops do nothing.
On the rare occasion that I do see a cop handing out a ticket around town, I cheer. I don’t care if that means that some day I might get a ticket. If I get one, I probably deserved it.
Anyone else been clipped in the elbow by scooter mirrors while crossing in a zebra zone?
In 4 years its happened to me 14 times so far…yes, I have kept count of this.
The first year or so I just marked it up as accidental and paid no heed. But after 8 times I began to stiffen the arm a bit and started taking out the offending mirror when it happened.
I’m at 6 now. Not really trying for a count and really do try to avoid it…but…I’m damn tired of scooter monkeys hitting me with their damn mirrors while I’m in a cross-walk.
A few have tried complaining. I just pointed to the stripes and stared them in the eyes.
And then there is the side bumping by scooters while I’m traveling in a straight line on the road. Them little scooter monkeys bounce off real good…heh heh heh.
The fun never stops.
…and most of Taiwan is uninhabitable mountains with no roads.
err NZ has twice the number of roads but 7 time larger land mass…
TW
total: 40,262 km
paved: 38,171 km (includes 976 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,091 km (2007)
NZ
total: 92,931 km
paved: 59,783 km (includes 171 km of expressways)
unpaved: 33,148 km (2003)
population density…
Taipei (city): 2.6M (9,679km2)
Auckland: 1.3M (1,199km2)
Anyway, nothing new I guess but if population density is somehow an accepted reason for a high pedestrian mortality rate (percentage wise) then that is pathetic.
Anyone else been clipped in the elbow by scooter mirrors while crossing in a zebra zone?
g/f got her bike crashed into a scooter last week. her colleague is in surgery at the moment from a scooter accident yesterday.
i’m told it would be highly embarrassing for a foreigner to campaign for pedestrian safety in taiwan. still, does make me wonder why there are no grass roots campaigns for it. Don’t Taiwan housewives/mothers have time a plenty? or is that sort of thing just not done here?
TiM
TC: I too enjoy stiff-arming or elbowing the scooters that attempt to crush me on the pedestrian crossings. and like you, i have often been hit by mirrors. i used to try and avoid it, now i almost relish the thought of being able to stomp on a crossing cockroach as it scuttles through the danger zone. direct eye contact does make them have second thoughts about it, though, so my count is not as high as it could be.
and as i ride a bicycle almost everyday, to and from work through the whole city, i now have lots of experience dodging traffic at red lights. and cruising along next to an oblivious scooter rider is interesting when i bellow into their ear from a couple of feet as they attempt to mindlessly meander across three lanes, for no apparent reason, while forcing me into oncoming busses. love that expression of frank horror i get from some of them, but from the majority it’s more a look of “what the f are you not moving out of my way for?” . it’s a good thing i can outsprint most of them.
Some time ago I was hit by a car mirror! That was in Hsinchu - in front of the train station to be exact, most dangerous crossing in Taiwan I think (and there is no zebra, there is no other way for people to reach to the station). THAT car took me by surprise. I could have ended up very bad would I have been hit frontally. It was a big 4x4. And I wonder if the car driver wanted to scare me (he was coming around the corner real fast) like “get out of my way or be hit, boy!” and assumed I had seen him. The mirror went KADANG! I hope it caused good damage. He didn’t stop; my arm didn’t hurt much.
Too bad there’s no awareness raising here in Taiwan. The only thing you see is “don’t drink and drive”. They leave the Taiwanese to themselves… with their horrible manners. Horrible… And police never does anything here.
On a bit of a tangent,
According to IPNANZ:
In New Zealand for 2006/2007
Injury - Leading Causes
· For people 20 to 74 years of age, suicide is the leading cause of injury resulting in death.
· For children aged 5-9, motor vehicle traffic crashes where the child is a pedestrian are the leading cause of injuries resulting in death
· For 10-19 year olds, motor vehicle traffic crashes, where the person is a motor vehicle occupant are the leading cause of injuries resulting in death.
· Motor vehicle traffic crashes are the second major cause of injuries resulting in death for people aged 20-84.
Suicide and Deliberate Self Harm
· Deaths 486 (2004)
· Rate 13.1 per 100,000 people (average rate 2002-2004)
· Hospitalisations 4,933 (2005).
So *percentage-wise, you are more likely to kill yourself in New Zealand than to die as a pedestrian in Taiwan.
I understand suicide is more likely for the Maori population, and especially the male Maori population, just like for the Aboriginals and Native Americans in Australia and America respectively.
z
That is so not true? When was the last time you went to France or Italy?
That is so not true? When was the last time you went to France or Italy?[/quote]
Indeed. Perhaps “civilized” is a typo, and StuartCa meant to write “uncivilized” or “barbaric.”
Today is a holiday (Labor Day). I made the mistake of going running this morning on the pedestrian/bike path along the Danshui River.
My personal casualty count:
-I was struck by two cyclists, once from the front in the hand and once from behind in the hip. The hip is still hurting.
-I was nearly hit head on by three different groups of cyclists. Had to jump off the path to avoid them.
-Several cyclists passed so close from behind that if I had extended my arm a few centimeters, I would have hit them.
Decidedly uncivilized.
People in Taiwan seem to thinnk a hair-raising near miss is just fine. Like, “Hey, I didn’t actually HIT anybody.” I don’t even think it registers. However, with street crossings and other brushes with traffic, I find the whole thing very unnerving. It’s really hard in many (but not all) areas of Taipei to have a relaxing walk. And now I’m pushing a pram…which makes it a hell of a lot worse. This has been part of our decision to leave Taiwan.
double post
I like on the corner of RenAi Rd and GuangFu S. Rd in Taipei and ChungHsiao E Rd and GuangFu S Rd, they have these signs that say, “Pedestrians have the right of way”.
Too bad they are so small and only face the crossing where the pedestrians walk lulling them into a false sense of security that they can safely walk across the road and that traffic will actually stop for them.
Well at least we know that when a car or scooter does hit you on those crossing that pedestrians did have the right of way and it may be easier to win a law suit…
Too bad if your dead though…
You just got to laugh sometimes… :loco:
[quote=“Buzzardo”]People in Taiwan seem to thinnk a hair-raising near miss is just fine. Like, “Hey, I didn’t actually HIT anybody.” I don’t even think it registers. However, with street crossings and other brushes with traffic, I find the whole thing very unnerving. It’s really hard in many (but not all) areas of Taipei to have a relaxing walk. And now I’m pushing a pram…which makes it a hell of a lot worse. This has been part of our decision to leave Taiwan.[/quote]That’s what the police say if someone almost hits you “chabuduo meiyo guanxi”. When I was actually hit, they didn’t see it, despite looking straight at me at the time, saves them from doing their job. I don’t blame you for leaving, this is no place to bring up a child. No one will give a shit about your child’s life, look at how they treat they own children.
Sorry, don’t I love Taiwan enough? I would go home if I could and let you enjoy paradise unspoiled.
One of my Taiwanese friends was telling me that a “company” (I should ask her what the company’s name is) has a certain policy of one of their vechiles goes out of control.
Supposedly, the company says that if you run into a person when driving in the street, and they are still alive, you have to kill them. The reason is that if they are still alive after you hurt them, they can sue the company and the company will have to pay fees. If you kill them on the road though, the company doesn’t have to pay anything. Only the person driving the vechile goes to Jail. So the company literally tells people to kill citizens if they injure them.
My friend also told me this story of this one empolyee driving a company vechile. He hit a man, and realizing that he was still alive because he was calling for help, the employee went in reverse and then went forward to kill the man.
I will ask for the company name from my friend, but if this stuff is really truly, that’s some of the most horrible things I have ever heard a company say.
That’s an old story from back in the days when there was no national health insurance and you could end up paying through the nose for life if you seriously injured someone, but could pay NT$600,000 (or something like that) to close the case if the victim were killed off. The story is usually told with reference to cement or gravel trucks.
Which doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t true. I remember seeing news footage a few years back of a big truck doing exactly that, reversing back over a victim to make sure she was done.
And what about that bus driver that went into a river or something down south not so long back and killed a bunch of children, and the bus company ended up paying some insultingly small fine over it? Surely it would have been far more expensive if half those children had lived and needed life support and caregiving and such.
oops
SO, he and his truck were on top of TWO that he was aware of…and BACKED UP?
to make sure they were really dead…but if he had a full load…they would have been Flat dead.
…and the judge bought it.
Wasn’t the first time that guy had killed while “driving.”
Heard similar story of driver killing a pregnant woman in a small town…the villagers dismembered him. [ don’t know if that is true ]
No, the driver was caught on CCCTV backing up over a small car killing the pregnant driver after first jumping out to check if she was alive after an accident.
HG
^^so the dismemberment part is NOT true?..or did they catch that too?
Just curious…
This was what was explained to me in 1984, back when there was no national health insurance. I have no reason to doubt that it was true back then. I don’t know about now. Wouldn’t doubt it, though. 