I’ve known personally, and heard of several other pedestrians who have been mowed down by scooters or cars who go around cars who are allowing one to cross.
Yes, that does happen. I let an old uncle across and he almost got hit by a scooter going down the wrong side of a double yellow. He couldn’t see the scooter because the traffic was blocking the view of that side. We had to chase down the round portions of his groceries. Luckily only scrapes.
True, some discretion is called for, but in general I encourage courtesy on the road. I will stop for people but I don’t wave them to do anything unless I’m 100% sure I’m not waving them into a collision with someone else. I usually just let them make the call themselves whether or not to take advantage of the window I tried to open for them.
Further, I’ve been honked at and nearly rear-ended for waiting for a pedestrian to cross before I turned right.
Despite the fact that even Taiwan’s driving law says that pedestrians have the right of way in this situation, and it is the polite thing to do to let them cross, it is a risk to both the driver and the pedestrian, as long as there are so many drivers who do not yield.
Check your rear-view mirror!! That goes for actually having the nerve to stop for a light that recently turned red, too.
Me too, but I just ignore them. I spent enough time driving in Europe the last few years that courtesy has become ingrained again. I used to be a lot more local but fuck it, courtesy to pedestrians is worth encouraging… even if it’s very unlikely to become fashionable.
I’d also hate to get a ticket for engaging in behavior I personally find abhorrent! They still have teams of cops in Taipei photographing cars on crossings don’t they?
I feel it is our duty in this instance to teach them about their own laws (and, you know, common courtesy). I don’t drive, but I’m always a pedestrian, and when I’m crossing on a green walk signal and I see someone motoring toward me, I stare straight at them and force them to stop. I’m always fully prepared to jump up on the hood of their car if they actually don’t stop, and then believe me, whomever the driver is is going to get the beating of a life time.
It’s not our job as transients to teach anybody anything about how they should behave in their own country. Its also extremely patronizing to assume you know better than a local does. What goes on in one country doesn’t necessarily apply in another.
It’s not our job as transients to teach anybody anything about how they should behave in their own country. Its also extremely patronizing to assume you know better than a local does. What goes on in one country doesn’t necessarily apply in another.[/quote]
I don’t think it is patronizing to complain when locals don’t follow their own traffic laws.
The Taipei City government has at least acknowledged the problem, and started a campaign to get people to give way to pedestrians for the deaf olympics. A deaf person would not hear the sound of a scooter making a right turn or someone honking their horn.
Actually I think the situation has improved a little, at least some people stop to let pedestrians cross. Motoring on through the crowd of pedestrians doesn’t even save any time normally as you just hit a red light ahead…
[quote=“StuartCa”]
It’s not our job as transients to teach anybody anything about how they should behave in their own country. Its also extremely patronizing to assume you know better than a local does. What goes on in one country doesn’t necessarily apply in another.[/quote]
I’m not a transient, I live here. I’ve lived here longer than many of these fuckwits have been alive.
It would suit me fine if they repealed all of the traffic laws, removed all the signs and paint markings. At least then we’d all know where we stood. It’s a farce having laws and then hiring all these clown cops to ignore them along with most of the population. Comedy shows belong on TV, not on the streets. Either take law enforcement seriously or don’t bother at all. Fact is, there ARE laws requiring vehicles to yield to pedestrians on crosswalks. The problem is same as ever… see no evil, hear no evil, do fuck-all.
/rant
It’s not our job as transients to teach anybody anything about how they should behave in their own country. Its also extremely patronizing to assume you know better than a local does. What goes on in one country doesn’t necessarily apply in another.[/quote]
Post-Colonial theory is dead.
Get used to it.
It’s now time to bow down to common sense, and, you know, obeying the law.
The look on the pedestrians face is classic ‘deer caught in headlights’ completely stops their brain for a second. They don’t know what to think and have obviously never seen anyone actually do such a simple act of kindness and courtesy. I also think some of them are scared that it’s a trick or something, so I usually pop up my facemask and once they see the foreigner they know its ok and proceed to walk.
If I have the green man, unless someone is going so fast that they wouldn’t be able to slow down, then I will call them on it. I will walk across the road making eye contact the whole time daring them to run me over. With so many things regarding traffic here, it’s just like teaching a dog to sit. You have to be the alpha dog. Maybe I will end up getting run over by some other clown.
I agree with redwagon: either make it a free for all or actually enforce the laws. As things stand, it’s a joke. My girlfriend’s brother thought it was great recently when they went to Jhunan for someone’s wedding and a whole lot of people were driving around without helmets without getting caught. When my girlfriend told me, I had to do a double take. You don’t wear a helmet so you don’t get fined by the police. You wear a helmet so you don’t split your head open like a watermelon, even in a slow speed accident. Fuck, what’s with people here?
Everyone in this country thinks they are going to win the lottery and not get in an accident… despite what the statistics say.
“I don’t need to wear a helmet or seatbelt because I’m lucky. I went to the temple and bought that luck!”
You can’t beat an argument based on superstition with logic. And in any case, it’s unsporting to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. 
Drive safely.
Sometimes that may mean doing something contrary to what you are used to, or even against the law.
My first choice is to stop for the red light, however I check in my rear view mirror and if I see someone barreling down on me to get through the intersection before the cross traffic starts, I’m sure as shit not gonna let them rear-end me to “teach them a lesson”.
And as for yielding to the pedestrian before turning right, you may be putting them in danger from the twit who is going to go around you and mow them down because they don’t see each other. You are also putting yourself at risk of being rear-ended because the person behind you doesn’t expect you to stop. My first instinct is to yield, but I check my rear-view mirror and watch the pedestrian and try to make the safest decision.
Are you sure they are getting the same message you are trying to convey, or are they just thinking you are an arrogant, pushy foreigner getting in their way? Being the alpha dog may get your way, but I wonder if the other person gets your point.
On the other hand, when I’ve crossed in the zebra stripes and a motorcycle is stopped there, i walk up to them and look at them and down to the zebra stripes and they move. I wonder if they think I’m a prick or if they realize they aren’t supposed to stop on the zebra stripes because it forces the pedestrian into moving traffic. Maybe both.
It’s quite easy. Learn about the existing traffic rules and follow them as much as possible without endangering yourself or others. 80 percent of the people on the streets are followers, they do what others do. If you stop to let pedestrians go first, people will follow your example, if you don’t yield, others will do the same. Everyone can improve the situation by doing what is right. BUT NEVER STOP ABRUPTLY WHEN ＴＨＥ ＬＩＧＨＴＳ ＪＵＳＴ ＴＵＲＮＥＤ ＲＥＤ or for other reasons (unless you are a taxi driver and possess special rights…)，there is always someone following closely behind you, always.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]Drive safely.
Sometimes that may mean doing something contrary to what you are used to, or even against the law.
My first choice is to stop for the red light, however I check in my rear view mirror and if I see someone barreling down on me to get through the intersection before the cross traffic starts, I’m sure as shit not gonna let them rear-end me to “teach them a lesson”.
And as for yielding to the pedestrian before turning right, you may be putting them in danger from the twit who is going to go around you and mow them down because they don’t see each other. You are also putting yourself at risk of being rear-ended because the person behind you doesn’t expect you to stop. My first instinct is to yield, but I check my rear-view mirror and watch the pedestrian and try to make the safest decision.
Are you sure they are getting the same message you are trying to convey, or are they just thinking you are an arrogant, pushy foreigner getting in their way? Being the alpha dog may get your way, but I wonder if the other person gets your point.
On the other hand, when I’ve crossed in the zebra stripes and a motorcycle is stopped there, i walk up to them and look at them and down to the zebra stripes and they move. I wonder if they think I’m a prick or if they realize they aren’t supposed to stop on the zebra stripes because it forces the pedestrian into moving traffic. Maybe both.[/quote]
I also make eye contact with drivers while walking across the intersection and expect them to yield, but I am also prepared to jump on their hood to make a big dent if they don’t. Whether they get my point or not is up to them. Maybe I should give them a preemptive polite smile for following the law and letting me cross the street without running me over.
redwagon: Ordinarily, I’d be very Darwinian about it and wouldn’t really give a toss if someone didn’t want to wear a helmet, but this is someone I know, so I do expend a little bit of effort to try to convince him not to engage in stupid behaviours (be they riding recklessly or recently taking up smoking). He laughs it off like it’s all a big joke, but his parents and three sisters won’t be laughing it off when he’s pissing out of a tube.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]Are you sure they are getting the same message you are trying to convey, or are they just thinking you are an arrogant, pushy foreigner getting in their way? Being the alpha dog may get your way, but I wonder if the other person gets your point.
[/quote]
The single message almost anyone gets in this country is that might is right. Basically, the bigger, more arrogant, pushier prick wins and everyone else loses. My message is not to try to re-educate these clowns as I know I would be wasting my time. I pick my battles mostly. The rest of the time, my message to those kinds of people is that I am indeed going to be the bigger, more arrogant, pushier prick (who in this case just happens to be a foreigner) who takes them to the cleaners in court if they run me over while I have the green man. I’m not making any statement grander than if they fuck me, I will fuck them worse. Ironically, in their pea-brained world view, they will probably respect me all the more for it. As Machiavelli wrote: it’s better to be feared than loved.
Awesome! Go grampa!
[quote=“Bassment Productions”]I should adapt and just cruise round as they are used to diving out of the way of cars but so far I haven’t.
I end up sitting there with my indicator flashing, waiting for them to cross first. They look at me in bemusement as it’s probably the first time since they became mobile that anyone has given way to them![/quote]
maybe they just want to look at you cuz you’re funny looking. so just go next time.
[quote=“redwagon”]http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=80314
Awesome! Go grampa![/quote]
He is my new hero!
My prediction is that someone “important” will get mowed down at a zebra crossing in Kaohsiung (World Games) or Taipei (Deaflympics) that will cause the govt to start to seriously enforce this law (for a few months at least).