Ninman, not to split hairs, but I spent a lot of time in the UK and even learned to drive there.
As I believe, buses have no priority right of way in law - it is not illegal if you do not let them out.
Also, splashing people is not illegal unless you do it intentionally and this has to be proven.
However, these are not inscribed in law because most people in the UK drive considerately and sensibly, unlike here and in parts of Russia.
Ok, it’s not illegal, but it’s in the highway code, as is splashing people. Doing either in a UK driving test is an automatic fail. As far as puddles are concerned, you should see people standing at the side of the street, and slow down so as not to create a splash when you drive past them. If no one is there then you can just keep driving normally.
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Buses, coaches and trams. Give priority to these vehicles when you can do so safely, especially when they signal to pull away from stops. Look out for people getting off a bus or tram and crossing the road.
Also the reason why people are so considerate when they drive in the UK is due to the 47% pass rate, per year, and they are going to make it even harder. They’ve just introduced an independent driving segment to the driving test, to assess how people drive when they are unassisted.
news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-New … 0215405349
Correction, as it says in that News article, splashing people is an offense, and is therefore illegal.
Btw if anyone is interested in the road rules in China watch this.
[quote=“ninman”]Btw if anyone is interested in the road rules in China watch this.
youtube.com/watch?v=vPxinqO3f8o[/quote]That video was interesting, but actually I thought it was quite tame to some things I have seen and experienced here.
Was that the driver who was constantly beeping. I got chased by 3 scooter punks because I beeped them after they cut a curve over double yellow lines directly into my path. I held my ground (ready to move if they didn’t) and blasted them with my horn as they had to swerve out of my path. They folllowed me into my B1 parking threatening me and asking me what I was doing blasting them… That’s the kind of jerks I really hate. They do wrong so you stand up for yourself and then they still want to fight back again… I have told this story to some of my Taiwan colleagues and they say “Oh, don’t beep people, it will make them angry”.
Maybe it was because I beeped longer than the prescribed time limit, I can’t remember what it was, as it was so long ago I did my Taiwan driving theory test, 0.5 seconds per blast I think.
Read this thread 8 years ago. Oups is it a new one???
Lol Search button is your friend, but true, a lot of new people recently on the forum.
[quote=“TaipeiSean”][quote=“ninman”]Btw if anyone is interested in the road rules in China watch this.
youtube.com/watch?v=vPxinqO3f8o[/quote]That video was interesting, but actually I thought it was quite tame to some things I have seen and experienced here.
Was that the driver who was constantly beeping. I got chased by 3 scooter punks because I beeped them after they cut a curve over double yellow lines directly into my path. I held my ground (ready to move if they didn’t) and blasted them with my horn as they had to swerve out of my path. They folllowed me into my B1 parking threatening me and asking me what I was doing blasting them… That’s the kind of jerks I really hate. They do wrong so you stand up for yourself and then they still want to fight back again… I have told this story to some of my Taiwan colleagues and they say “Oh, don’t beep people, it will make them angry”.
Maybe it was because I beeped longer than the prescribed time limit, I can’t remember what it was, as it was so long ago I did my Taiwan driving theory test, 0.5 seconds per blast I think.[/quote]
Yep, right do a Google search in the US to see how many people get killed every year due to “road rage” and you will see that Taiwan is a kindergarten compared to the US of A.
PS: Mental note for the ones who can’t understand. Was referring to the road rage cases… not the stupid driving habits going on the island here on a daily base 
[quote=“iix23”]Read this thread 8 years ago. Oups is it a new one???
Lol Search button is your friend, but true, a lot of new people recently on the forum.[/quote]
Yes, it has been discussed a lot and should be continued to be discussed.
New people are arriving into the Taiwan Roads Theme Park all the time and should be encouraged to share the stupidity they see and experience on the roads, not just read how others before them have vented. They too need a place to vent.
I remember I was kind of ridiculed the first time I posted something about roads on this forum by longer serving forumosans, some who I think you too iix may have had run ins with on here before.
But this shit is real and though we know we can’t do anything about it, if it feels good, let it out, even if we have heard it all before…
Totally, also one time some guy nearly ran me over when I was walking down the street because he was reversing and not looking where he was going. So I knocked on his back window, and he looked like he wanted to kick the shit out of me. Also a guy nearly ran me over in his car, so I beeped at him, and my girlfriend said I was being rude by doing so, and she got really pissed off.
I was actually following the highway code in the UK on the use of the horn, which is as a warning and to alert other drivers to your presence, NOT to vent your frustration, as most people do. I thought the guy didn’t see me, so I tooted my horn to let him know I was there, did he care? Nope. He carried on regardless, forcing me to stop to avoid being killed, my girlfriend said he was miles away, but as I pointed out, had I kept going at that speed, we would have crashed.
I genuinely don’t understand why the government doesn’t do something about it, because it pisses everyone off, including Taiwanese people. Probably pisses foreigners off more though.
The best thing ever though, is the Top Gear vietnam special where they all go to Vietnam and buy bikes then go on a road trip. It’s fucking epic, and funny to see them experience the same shit that we have to deal with every single day.
Btw I’ve never even seen a car accident in the UK, but while living in Asia, I have seen many, many accidents. Most of which are simply due to this Asian phenomenon of being totally unable to realise that if you keep going at that speed, in that direction, you will have a crash. They just have absolutely no foresight what-so-ever.
I’m going to write a petition I think, demanding that the government does something about this, and introduces a driving test that’s closure to European standards in terms of rigour and difficulty. That would sort this shit out in no time at all.
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Oh…um…sorry, I just realised this isn’t in the Fun and Games forum.
Everyone, really? Taipei must be a different world then.
Edit: As we say in Sef Efrika, "Most people here just need a few solid pos klappe." A few more strategically placed pos klappe would probably make things go a whole lot more smoothly.
my scooter is 5 years old 24k miles, after about 1 hour of riding it would shake kinda hard in idle. sometimes when I rev it a lil it goes away…is it the engine? engine dying or something
[quote=“44”]I lived in China for about 3 years before coming to Taiwan and I’ve seen some interesting things that relate to this subject.
One time I was in a pool and a guy was doing laps back and forth. I saw an older lady at one end of the pool putting on a swimming cap and goggles. I watched this scene unfold because I had been in China long enough to know exactly what was going to happen. And, sure enough, it did. The old lady dove into the pool almost directly on top of the guy’s head. And the old lady didn’t miss a beat. She just kept on swimming, as if nothing at all had happened. And the guy only looked at the lady for a second then just continued his lap. This was amazing to me on so many different levels. First, how could the old lady not notice the guy coming at her? Second, why could she not just alter her path or timing to avoid the guy? Third, why did she not acknowledge that something had happened? Fourth, why did the guy not berate her for almost killing him?[/quote]
This is a simple one to answer; it was obviously his mother in law.
An offence is not always necessarily illegal. Its likely a statute and not a law.
There are only two positions on a throttle in Taiwan … full open or slam shut … 
When driving on the road in Taiwan … expect anything unusual …
Prepare for the worst … be concentrated … never leave your guard down … don’t do as the locals do, they don’t expect you to do so … 
I’ve seen it all … I guess … like people stopping their car in the middle of the road to look around, looking for directions … never mind there was a big gap to park the car right next to them …
Just recently I saw this scooter slam into a halted car at a traffic light …
Everyday I see people driving on the left side of the road on a busy 4 lane road with a concrete divider, just because it’s too ‘mafan’ to drive around … using the gap …
Driving a car through a one way street …
Just a few days ago, I was crossing the road on a pedestrian crossing, to my left it was red, so all cars stopped, next to the crossing (between light and crossing) is large yellow crossed out area that means no halting, a public bus stopped at my right waiting for the light to turn green … while I was just passing the bus, howdy hi, there came Mr. little bluetruck passing the bus on the right, squeezing through a space 10 cm wider than his little truck … he nearly scooped me … just jumped out and scratched his right hand mirror …
An offence is not always necessarily illegal. Its likely a statute and not a law.[/quote]
You receive a fine and penalty points, just like you would for other offenses, such as speeding, or talking on a mobile telephone. It’s illegal, read the article.
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Oh…um…sorry, I just realised this isn’t in the Fun and Games forum.
Everyone, really? Taipei must be a different world then.
Edit: As we say in Sef Efrika, "Most people here just need a few solid pos klappe." A few more strategically placed pos klappe would probably make things go a whole lot more smoothly.[/quote]
I’ve never seen anyone riding without a helmet on, have you? In China nobody wears a helmet, or bothers with traffic lights, or road signs, or other road users. People on scooters in China literally just carry on as if they are in some invisible bubble that somehow makes the rest of the world not exist.
I spent four days in Ho Chi Min City and I feel that place was far worse than Taipei, far far worse. The first night I was there I didn’t even bother trying to cross the road even at the intersections with lights.It was total mayhem. I waited till the next morning in the daylight so I could try and figure out the system how to cross the road. Even then, I still couldn’t figure out why they even had traffic lights. People didn’t stop and it was criss-cross confusion in the midde of the intersection. In the four days there I saw three accidents, the day I didn’t was the day we went out of the city on a tour. The worst one I saw was some guy on a scooter ran into the back of a car and somehow slid underneath it. They got some bystanders to help lift the car off the poor dude then they stopped a taxi and through his lifeless body in the back seat, hopefully going to hospital. I also remember getting one of those pedicabs where you sit on the front and the driver is at the back. He pull out from the kerb and then did a U turn and went the wrong way down a one way street and it was a very busy road, I had cars and motorcycles swerving to avoid us and I was stuck on the front and couldn’t get off…
Ha, I was actually glad to get back to the chaos I was more familiar with in Taipei…
Maybe Top Gear should do a world tour taking a drive through major cities highlighting each countries poor driving habits…
It’s amazing in China the driving varies wildly depending on where you are. I lived in Shanghai for 10 months, the driving there is far worse than it is here, although it was a significant improvement over the driving I saw the first time I went to China because people did stop for traffic lights. However in Shanghai you’ll get in a taxi, and in the back seat there are no seat belts, and if you attempt to put the one on in the front the driver will inform you that there’s no need for that because he won’t crash or words to that effect.
After 4 months I went to Liaoning province in the north, and having gotten used to the driving in Shanghai was actually terrified. I was with my ex-wife’s family and her uncle was driving, and caused her 10 year old cousin to throw up in the back seat. One of the things they did, if there was a queue of traffic, rather than wait, thinking that they must be stopped for a reason, they would simply drive on the wrong side of the road, on the other side of a concrete barrier and go around that way.
In the north of China they also don’t bother with traffic lights. Also in China you can turn right on a red light, and if the pedestrian crossing is displaying a green man, cars will not stop. I had one British friend who stood in the middle of the crossing with a bus bearing down on him, the bus stopped about 2 feet from him, then he stood there giving the driver the finger.
Ninman,
If you splash people, the offence you are charged with is driving without due care or attention and driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.
It is not an offence in itself and the court have to prove that the splashing incident was unavoidable or at the very least, not intentional, which is very difficult.
Driving in Taiwan is an offence.
Get with the program or don’t drive.
Had a small car before and scooter used to hit it all the time. Got a 11" raised Jeep with 35" tires, no one comes close to me. “Learn and adapt”, (The army modo). I know some newbies are pissed off and don’t understand but, you will not change the way they drive and the faster you adapt, the safer you will be. (I read this thread 8 years ago and it hasn’t change)
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
Oh…um…sorry, I just realised this isn’t in the Fun and Games forum.
Everyone, really? Taipei must be a different world then.
Edit: As we say in Sef Efrika, "Most people here just need a few solid pos klappe." A few more strategically placed pos klappe would probably make things go a whole lot more smoothly.[/quote]
[color=#FF0000]I’ve never seen anyone riding without a helmet on, have you?[/color] In China nobody wears a helmet, or bothers with traffic lights, or road signs, or other road users. People on scooters in China literally just carry on as if they are in some invisible bubble that somehow makes the rest of the world not exist.[/quote]
Are we talking about the same country? Taiwan?
If so, I invite you to visit me for a weekend in Tainan. I have a spare bedroom. Come on down. We’ll “re-educate” you on helmet-less drivers and folks going home after 12 beers on the scooter. 
People wearing helmets on scooters? Surely that’s just a suggestion? :roflmao: