Yes, it’s the end of an era folks. My beloved ride has been taken out. A bullet to the oil pan. Sent to The Gray (Handle)Bar Hotel. Dead Bike Rolling.
Last night, after hockey, I got stopped by the local constabularies. They asked if has been drinking and I told them I had a beer. Singular. Fuckface proceeds to write me up a 30,000NT fine. I told him he could keep Piglet and my drivers license. Not a chance in hell I am paying that cunt 30,000NT.
So, I am a pedestrian now. Given that I live on the side of a mountain, this really sucks. Not to mention my new side gig in Sanxia that was a quick 25 minute run thru An Keng, a most enjoyable ride. Now it’s gonna take an MRT from Hsin Dien to TuCheng and a Buddha knows how much for a taxi the rest of the way. For 1 FUCKING BEER!!!
Sometimes I really fucking detest this place. If I didn’t have such an awesome girlfriend, I’d be packing my bags right now. Fuck You Taiwan. I hope China destroys you all.
Okay, a little over the top, but I am incredibly acrimonious right now.
I had the same argument with a cop once - I’d had a glass of wine at TGI Friday’s, and gone back to work for a couple of hours. Just out of the office, I got stopped by a cop, and when he asked if I’d been drinking, I said that I’d had a glass of wine at dinner, several hours ago. He tested me, I was well under the limit (barely registered, in fact), and then he told me it was illegal to drink and drive. I told him that it wasn’t, it’s just illegal to be over the limit. He didn’t like my attitude, but eventually let me go. What else was he going to charge me with - being a smartass?
There is a new zero tolerance policy (as of Feb.). I too barely registered. Didn’t matter. San Wan Kwai the motherfucker tells me. I shoulda just ran the gauntlet. I know lots of backroads around that part of town.
Disappointing story in that no actual evidence of, or the alluded to results, of LEO gun fire are shown at all. Always fun to see what a 9mm round to an engine can and cannot do.
[quote=“sandman”]Zero tolerance? Is this for real? Absolutely NO alcohol permitted in the blood at all?
Sounds like a shakedown to me.[/quote]
The irony is that as we were imbibing in this now infamous beer, Coach Skinner told us about this new policy. Not ten minutes later, I was treated to its full effect. Zero percent in the blood and fines have quadrupled. Learn from me, my brothers and sisters. Taxis are way cheaper.
[quote=“sandman”]Zero tolerance? Is this for real? Absolutely NO alcohol permitted in the blood at all?
Sounds like a shakedown to me.[/quote]
I look for the [i]TTL[/i] to raise a non-approving voice on this tom foolery.
zero BAC? what a f’n joke. you’d register if your mum had cooked chicken with rice wine, or you’ve just used a mouthwash, or you’ve been eating liqueur chocolates.( not that I’d admit to that). and they STILL won’t catch the drunk idiots, because they don’t test trucks at 7 am, they don’t test taxi rivers waiting at queues behind SOGO, they don’t test stall holders in the local markets, etc. they just continue to put up their routine stop along Minquan East road every Sunday night between 10 and 12 and nobody who has any clue at all drives past at that time.
and how widely have they advertised this? has it been in the newspapers? has it been on TV ads? how about MRT and billboards? how about including it on one’s registration renewal papers? wankers.
sorry, Toe Save. that’d never happen in Ireland. I’d be going to court over that one. and if you blow into a roadside bag, be aware that they have a large degree of inaccuracy at the lower end of the scale. demand to be tested by a proper machine… that’s going to take some time to organise a blood test or a trip to a proper etahnol analyser, and you’ll show lower then.
I asked a couple colleagues who said fines had gone up, but they weren’t aware of any zero tolerance.
EDIT: one just brought over a printout of what he says is the latest, from www.judge.taipei.gov.tw, and from a quick scan of the Chinese, it looks like it stipulates the following fine ranges for the below breath test results:
.25mg to under .55mg, 15k-30k fine
.4mg to below .4mg (sic) 30k-45k
.55mg up, 45k-60k.
Refusal to take the test, or two failures within one year or no license: 60k, vehicle confiscation, license confiscation and 3 year ban on retaking the license test.
(Presumably that should have been .25 to .4, .4 to .55, and .55 on up)
It seems like the cops are always busy as ants around Election time…we had 2 police raids in one week! And yeah, cops waiting around every corner…I waited like a dork at a quiet street for the traffic light to go green so I can turn right…and they still pulled me off!
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“TheGingerMan”]I always say “No, not today.”
Leaves lots of room for selective interpretation.[/quote] “Not yet.” “You buyin’?”[/quote]
That’s the classic!
I’ve used it a few times. Yet it’s a dangerous ploy. I actually prefer to say
“No, not this evening”.
Which is actually telling the truth, in that it’s rare for me to drink between 5 & 7PM.
I would never ask a cop “You buying?”, unless it’s an old-timer. Though i’ve been known to say the same such comeuppance to M.P.s on several notable occasions. With less than satisfactory results!
