I was biking down a windy mountain road today and the mortorcycle in front of me was slowing down. I was about to pass him when I saw why he was stopping. In front of him an accident had just occurred. I didn’t see the accident happen but I could tell that it had occurred moments before. I didn’t see it happen, but here’s what I think took place. A mortorcyclist had been roaring down the mountain at top speed, crossed over into the other lane (probably to pass a slow driver) just as he was going around a blind corner and a car was coming in the other direction. By the time he saw the car, it was too late.
All I saw was the motorcyclist lying on the ground motionless. I won’t describe the scene in detail… but I’ll just say that I really don’t see how he could have survived.
I’ll admit that I the more I get accustomed to Taiwanese traffic, the less safe I am when I bike. (Yes, I’m on a bicycle, but when I’m going down, I can go just as fast as everyone else)
To the motorcyclist who was killed today:
I don’t know who you were. I don’t know if you had a family. Yet, I grieve your tragic accident. What I saw today is something I will never forget. Seeing this has convinced me to be safer on the road. I’m sorry that this lesson I learned cost you so much.
To everyone here who drives: Please remember to be safe.
Thanks for grieving and I’m sorry that you were involved in this.
This will change absolutely nothing on Taiwan’s roads.
Be safe out there.
Avoid rage.
Love.
I’m not sure if i ever took that road, looks beautiful (as many others). I’m sorry that you had to see that, and I feel sorry for the biker, although I must admit that sometimes I see people driving or riding in a way that I wish they smash themselves against a wall before taking other lives with them.
I love riding here, but I’m also very, very tired of it. I’ve done my own share of stupid mistakes on the road, but I try to control myself and take it easy. Riding here I’ve developed like a sixth sense and I’ve been lucky that I’ve slowed down MANY times.
BeiYi has the racing nutters back, just in case you were cellebrating how the police pressure had under control the racing scene for a while. And it’s not the only road with that problem. Even normal roads and streets have lots of idiots and mad drivers…
That’s awful. It upsets me seeing animals hit on the roads (happens all the time in the Philippines - they seem to be a lot dumber than here and just wander in and out of the road oblivious to the traffic blasting along). I don’t ever want to see that happen to a human. But yeah, reminds us of our own mortality, and how bloody dangerous driving can be even if you’re paying attention.
More than one killed today unfortunately. There’s a video doing the rounds, I won’t post it, where a scooter rider tries to undertake a tour bus on a narrow road and comes off due to a bump/gap in the road surface. Helmet not much help when your head goes under the dual rear wheels.
I keep revisiting the scene in my mind. All afternoon, I’ve been replaying it, trying to find closure. I thought that if I posted this here as a sort of obituary, I’d be able to return to a normal evening enjoying beef noodle soup.
But perhaps there is no closure to be found. The graphic scene and the smell of death has been turned into my mind.
I can’t begin to fathom what that means, but it follows that somewhere in there is the proposition that, and check me if I’m wrong here, but that dead guys read this??
So…Thomas Jefferson, Gregor Mendel, Gene Vincent, and Buster Keaton all read The Flob???
We may need to seriously up our fuckin game here, just sayin.
My buddy was just on Beiyi Road this past weekend and told me about the idiot racers there again. The police obviously know what reckless dumbassery goes on there, hell everyone knows.
My friend, who’s fluent in Chinese, subsequent wrote a strongly worded email to the New Taipei mayor’s office, condemning the lack of police action and the many needless accidents and deaths on that road. He included a line, something to the effect that, what will it take for the police to actually do their jobs–the death of some politician’s child?
Well, the potentially dead might read it, and if one of the potentially dead decided not to overtake around a blind bend tomorrow, it might save some pain.
I doubt that many of the overtakers around the blind bend read Forumosa, though.
Fair enowt, Chuck, but if that’s the case the title should be changed.
Pretty sure most waterheads who drive like selfish asswpes would look at the thread title and, not being themselves actually dead at this juncture, choose to ignore it.
In all fairness police has been very active in that road. The problem is… that there are just too many people. When I was on BeiYi I was thinking of the extra money that this was taking. It is not fair to accuse the police of not doing their job… there. I’ve had to tell them to go after the fucking car racers in number 7 before. I called like 3 or 4 times the police and also talked to some cops who were just checking their phones on the side of the road.
I guess that they could still do more, but at expenses of what? are you going to ask all the people in the popular curves to move out? and how about number 3? and how about the road going that goes from Neihu to FGZ? there are just too many playful roads and too many racers everywhere. Maybe harder punishments would help too.
That’s a thought; I have no idea what the punishments are now. I suspect–but again, have no idea–that a good number of these racers are spoiled rich kids who figure their parents have connections with the authorities and/or they can afford any fines if they’re caught.