Road rage incident: please advise

Legal General Legal Matters
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I’m visiting Taiwan for two weeks from the US for work. There was a road rage incident yesterday which I would like feedback on: what happened, what I should have done and what I should do now.

I was behind a black Porsche Macan at a red traffic light. In front of him was one of those blue mini trucks you see in Taiwan. Light cycled to green; no one moved for about 5 seconds so I tapped the horn briefly.

Porsche overtakes the blue truck by going into a left turn lane, and speeds off in a 40 kph zone like a bullet. We meet up again at another traffic light; he is in the slow lane to turn right and I am in the fast lane to turn right.

When the light cycles to green, he goes from his lane and cuts in front of me in my lane, without indicating. At this point I am unaware he is angry at me; the delay in the first traffic light wasn’t his fault and he could just be a bad driver who realized he was in the wrong lane and decided to change after the lights changed.

Anyway, again he does not move for about 5 seconds so I beep the horn briefly. This really sets him off.

About 500m down the road, which is now a 80 kph zone, he does a brake check on me. Fortunately, I avoid a collision but while behind him, he gets out of his car. He forgets the car is on a downward slope and as his car starts rolling on its own down, he gets back into the car.

I meanwhile, take advantage of this opportunity to get away from behind him. He follows me to the next traffic light. I see in my rear view mirror what he is doing, so I angle my car to go off a slip road if things get serious, but otherwise stay in my car. As he comes over, I lock my car doors and he starts banging on the window in front of everyone.

Let’s say things get really serious, and he actually breaks my window. Would I be justified in reversing into his car or perhaps even hitting other cars to create space to get away? Who would be at fault in this case?

Eventually the lights change to green, and he gets back into his car and we all drive off. There is no apparent damage to my car. I have his car registration number.

I called the police, who said that I should come to the station to file a report against him.

Has he committed any offense? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen police security cameras along this stretch of road so they can corroborate my story. Should I go with a translator to report the incident to the police?

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Sounds like your typical Taiwanese driver inflated ego and can’t even handle the “loss of face” of getting honked on even if they know they are in the wrong.

Overall you handled the situation well.

File a police report against him and at least make sure he gets a traffic fine for reckless driving, speeding or similar.

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No.

You.

This sounds like quite the work trip.

Guy

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What? That really doesn’t make any sense. Nobody, in any jurisdiction, except possibly a few failed States, is expected to just sit tight and take their lumps if someone is coming at them with a crowbar, and property is not generally held to be more important than human life. You are expected to remove yourself if possible, and if not, you may defend yourself with minimum force; if said force acts (through necessity) upon the aggressor’s property rather than his person, I’m pretty sure this is not going to get you convicted for criminal damage.

The proper answer, surely, is “it’s complicated”. The OP may be “justified” in ploughing through traffic to escape a maniac, but anyone left with a damaged car will want to make a civil claim against somebody, possibly the OP. He’d then need to recover any court-ordered payout from the aggressor, if the terms of his insurance do not cover such circumstances.

It’s obviously best not to get into such a situation; there’s no good outcome. The OP should certainly file a police report, but anyone driving a car like that is either a drug-dealer, some mafia clown, or a generic cockwomble. Best not to toot at them in the first place, even if you’re not actually tooting at them.

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If you had dash cam footage you would be alright. Not sure i would trust the police to sort it out if its your word against his.

If you are going to beep make sure you are recording. People here get set off by being beeped at.

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Just this. File report, if you care. Likely won’t become worse, but you can file it. Won’t look good for them in the future the next time they try to bully people. This won’t help you, but will help society. Short tempers are common in Taiwan, despite people generally being relatively polite and civil on the street. Behind the wheel, their true nature comes out (namely, lack of patience and ease of exploding temper). I would just ignore it personally. But if you have a camera (ie. Actual evidence), and you are worried, you can file a report. Expect nearly 1-2 hours, if no one else is waiting before you, to fill out all the paperwork.

I honestly just think it’s easier knowing nearly all taiwanese are basically good, polite and try to save face. Also, most taiwanese have a short fuse and can explode if certain triggers are…triggered. It’s also hot as fuck, people fly off the handle easier in this weather. He also drives an ego based brand of car. I wouldn’t waste my time personally and just shrug it off as a typical fake rich idiot that thinks their dick is 15cm longer than it actually is.

That is to say, I assume it was a male…and it’s more about wanting to help create a record on his license plate (you won’t know who was driving).

YouTube is filled with taiwanese road rage. It is an issue here. On the road, bats/pupes/tasers are not exactly super rare to see if one drives a lot everyday. It’s like a dog chasing cars and barking. All for show. Easy to go at them and have them apologize, but understand most cars now have cameras. Don’t get yourself in trouble!! If you need to, remove their keys from their car, battery turns off their cameras. Then argue…

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Are there countries where it’s not an issue? Genuinely asking as I’ve seen it everywhere.

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Do you drive here?

I beep all the time. Been driving 15 years and never had anyone get out the car. Maybe it is because i am in the civilised north.

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Dickheads everywhere.

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I have seen it everywhere I have been as well…I see it more here, but I do more here, so it’s not a fair comparison. So you are right. I think douche bags are everywhere. Here, I feel, it’s more about emotional maturity than true evil type people though.

I can only venture a guess. But I assume people coming to Taiwan that are used to the smiles and hellos on the street get used to such a safe and friendly place. Something i find taiwan is actually above and beyond most places i have been! Then when they see the rage come out, it is the contrast of those 2 extremes that is more shocking than the actual fact we might have psychos here.

I will add, however, that people that live and breathe Taiwan also know the the societal norms, and the psychological stresses that come along with them. So I would say things like anxiety and stress are far higher here than say where I was born (Canada). Albiet its a serious problem there too, dont get me wrong. Quite interestingly, living in Japan, I also noticed the stresses and anxieties were even higher there, yet they tended not to explode publicly as much during traffic accidents (they also drive WAY better, logic). Though many other psychological issues raise their ugly head more obviously (such as shut ins, partners for hire, suicides). Life is diverse and complicated.

One thing a friend told me in Kaohsiung that REALLY got me to reset my younger agressive male tendencies back in the day. He would drive around ktown a lot (motorcycle). That was when scooter morons would drive in groups with the sword bearer up front and beat up people for fun. Quite the retarded crowd, fun to laugh at if in a car. He would get road rage a LOT in that city and would get in fights semi regularly. Kaohsiung (aka. Hit Dog) used to be a true shit hole in my opinion, I hated it before! Over time, he realized when he was teaching a couple of his students that were the kids of a couple of the people he had got in road wars with lol. He kept it quiet, but the kids, over the years, would tell him about the abuse these fucktards would unleash on them and their mom/aunt/parents when they come home angry. Be it traffic, work, whatever. “That anger doesn’t just go away” , he would later tell me.

His take home point, which I am now fully in agreement with!!! “They take that anger home”. I was a guy to defend myself many years ago. Like this and many friends. I do still keep tools in my vehicles for self defense, but never used them for many years. Never needed to recently. Because his point is spot on. We can fight on the street. You might win, you very well might lose. It isn’t the point. The point is that guy, win or lose, will go home and take his rage out on his family. And having seen that happen, that’s pretty fucked up! Now I think it’s best to just de escalate, record and report if you deem it necessary. In the moment, emotions are far too high. Not just them. All of us. For me, certainly. But thinking about that guy going home and unleashing his fury on his kids/wife/etc is more than enough for me to put my ego aside now and just say fuck it. If I’m right pissed, record and report. Let the police deal with his license plate going forward :slight_smile: it’s easier. It’s also better for the other people those people will abuse.

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I’ve similarly never had it kick off. That’s not to negate the experience of others, though.

My take is road rage here is similar to everywhere else, but population density perhaps makes it feel more prevalent.

OP handled things well, IMO. If and when it ever happens to me I’ll probably be an idiot and get out of the car.

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I’ve never had an issue in Taiwan of someone going off from beeping.

Funny enough, A month ago in Florence I beeped at someone, although I admit quite aggressively because he was straddling 2 lanes and going in and out completely unaware I’m behind him and almost hit me. He stopped the car and got out for a few steps. But walked back into the car after I stared at him like wtf is wrong with you man.

I can’t think of any other time where I’ve encountered anything more than that.

I’m quite forgiving on the road with beeping. I really only do it if someone is driving in a way that’s reckless. Mistakes I understand as it happens.

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Tldr; Taiwanese people are very friendly

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Just scoots but i didnt dare to beep anyone. But ive seen from that wawtchout youtube channel that doing one of those long beeps really pisses people off

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When was the last time you lived in Taiwan?

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It’s been 4 years since I’ve lived in Taiwan as my main residence. I do drive when I visit as one of my family will usually let me use their car.

I know everyone complains about driving in Taiwan but I actually like it. You just have to understand the way traffic flows. And tickets don’t matter, there’s no point system so I just think of it as road tax if I get one. I just drive with the flow of traffic.

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There is definitely a points system, and tickets do matter :rofl:

It isn’t about understanding traffic flow when you’re at a red light waiting for the green light just down from you to turn red so your light can turn green, that’s just life in Taiwan

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When was it implemented?

I’m obviously not talking about this.

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Yes, the long beeps are fucking annoying. I rarely do those. No need.

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Before i arrived

Or, apparently, driving in Taiwan