I encourage him to stay alive and not ride at all.
tommy525 - the antiskooter
When I first got here, I was in an accident and dislocated my shoulder. It was the woman’s fault. The police never asked me for anything, no license. I didn’t even give my ARC which was at home. I did have my health card though. In my 5 year stint, I have never heard of any foreigner getting in trouble for driving illegally in the area where I live. It is totally irresponsible not to have a license, but I have been pulled over for traffic violations at least 10 times since I have been here (mostly for turning right on a red) and I have never had to show any kind of license or ID. So, if you are careful on your 50cc scoot, most likely you won’t have any problems. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You probably have more of a chance of getting caught teaching illegally, then getting in trouble for not having a license. There are about 100 foreigners that work at the same company as I do, and only about 10 teachers have their license that I know of. Be safe!!
Thats pretty much true because I have heard/read about groups of people (Taiwanese and foreign) who ride their scooters to the DMV for the driving test and ride home again , passing or not passing.
So it seems to be the rule rather then the exception, riding around without a license. HOwever, it means they could slap you with an expensive ticket if they so choose.
The important thing is BE SAFE , it really is a jungle out there. I did 12,000km on my 50cc moped and i came out ok (other then crashing into a drunk who was smart enough to know not to drive but not smart enough to know to look before opening his door and having one 50cc honda moped slam into it…I was ok tho).
add another vote for DONT DO IT. Get the license or get a bicycle.
Sure, lots of foreigners don’t have licenses, and suddenly become unable to speak Chinese when the cops pull them over. This might work, or it might backfire; a co-worker of mine tried on a cop once and the cop simply took his registration. Personally I find such behavior doesn’t reflect very well on foreigners in general.
A long time ago I was selling my Honda “wangpai” 135cc crotch rocket because I was taking a temporary job in China. Some FOB foreign guy without a license got really upset when I refused to sell it to him, which I couldn’t do in a clean conscience. Two weeks later he was killed in a traffic accident. His fault? Nobody knew; he was simply found dead in the middle of the road.
Thats sad paogao. And thats why i caution newbies on getting a two wheeler. Best to wait till you have been on the rock six months or more and get used to the traffic. Put a newbie on a two wheeler is asking for trouble.
I have heard of people getting hit, accident totally the other party’s fault, and getting no compensation at all. No license = no leg to stand on.
The “I don’t speak Chinese” thing. It is a useful tactic when you didn’t do anything wrong and can bring the same resolution forward by about 20 minutes. If you really screwed up, chances are it won’t work. Also, claiming you don’t speak Chinese when your license was issued 10 years ago is just going to piss them off. :no-no:
The local cop view of foreigners is pretty much as negative as ours is of them. A few times I’ve been stopped I’ve heard comments between the boys like…
“Oh. Foreigner. I bet he’s drunk. They are always drunk.”
“Oh. Laowai. I bet he pretends he can’t speak Chinese. They always do that.”
Anyone know what the fine for an expired licence is? Mine’s expired and I can’t renew it because I don’t have an ARC yet. How does that work? (Have had a licence since 1994.) I believe the fine for not having one at all is 7k - where do I stand?
Why do you need a scooter in Taipei? Seriously, if you can’t get around Taipei by MRT/bus/taxi you’re simply lazy.
I take the bus now instead of the bike because I only go to one location. Costs me NT$60 per day – FAR more expensive than putting NT$150-worth of gas in each week. Takes about an hour each way instead of 30 minutes.
In the past, I had two locations. Without the bike that gave me three hours per day commuting sometimes. It costs me NT$400 per single journey in a taxi.
Laziness has nothing to do with it!
Yeah but you live out in the wilderness of Bitan. That’s almost another planet. 
OP is asking for advice on licenses, not the relative merits of public transport against convenience and possibility to travel beyond the grid.
OP is asking for advice on licenses, not the relative merits of public transport against convenience and possibility to travel beyond the grid.[/quote]
Ok, I was a little OT and out-of-line.
Still, I’m with BFM on this. Do it properly or don’t do it at all. If/when an unlicensed foreigner crashes and injures or kills someone, it makes us all look bad.
Thanks for the advice, folks. Deuce, your reply was especially helpful.
After reading the comments, I’m going to give this some more thought. I definitely understand people’s recommendations against it, but I guess I’ll just lay low for the time being. Anyhow, the weather has been very bicycle friendly recently. We’ll see what happens.