I’ve only driven once in Taipei because it was just too scary for me. Everyone seemed to be an offensive driver, whereas I am very defensive.
We’ll be moving to Taipei soon and I am not looking forward to driving. We have small children so we’ll be getting a car. It is just not practical at this time to rely on public transit and cabs.
I need reassurance that I won’t die each time I’m behind the wheel in the city. Would appreciate advice, tips, and encouragement. :help:
You can get a bunch of conflicting advice on here, or you can drive me and the kids from Tianmu down to our place, with me shouting conflicting advice every few seconds and reaching back to smack the kids as my needs dictate, with each bit of advice just a few seconds too late… sounds just about perfect, no? Seriously, I’ve taught all my sisters to drive and they’re all still alive, with most of their bits still intact. Don’t worry about it.
Really not sure what to tell you. Driving here is the single most frustrating cultural difference I’ve experienced since moving here from the US, even more frustrating than credit card applications.
You want reassurances you won’t die in a car accident? Well, because people are ALWAYS pulling in front of each other, city traffic rarely moves fast enough to kill you as long as you are also encased in a ton of steel.
It is useful to get used to traffic patterns before getting behind the wheel yourself. Watch how buses weave back and forth across lanes, taxi’s straddle lanes, people turn right from middle lanes, people pull into traffic from parked positions without looking, people turn into traffic from side streets without yielding, scooters splitting lanes and passing right-turning cars on the right, and so forth. As long as you know what to expect, you are better able to deal with it.
[quote=“914”]I’ve only driven once in Taipei because it was just too scary for me. Everyone seemed to be an offensive driver, whereas I am very defensive.
We’ll be moving to Taipei soon and I am not looking forward to driving. We have small children so we’ll be getting a car. It is just not practical at this time to rely on public transit and cabs.
I need reassurance that I won’t die each time I’m behind the wheel in the city. Would appreciate advice, tips, and encouragement. :help:[/quote]
I know how you feel. I was scared too when I first started driving in Taipei. It would help if you didn’t have the expectation that you might die every time you need to drive. 
Relax. You’ll do fine. It seems that many drivers here are used to people cutting in front. You know, stuff that would usually cause road rage in the states. But here, most people are cool with it. You just need to learn to be cool with it because people absolutely will cut in front of you from time to time. Also, don’t drive as fast as you normally would where you’re from.
If you need to cut in front of someone else, try to make sure the other driver understands your intentions. Usually, I’ll use my turn signal and start to slowly turn the nose of my car into the space in front of the other car (assuming I’m in front of a red traffic light). This gives the other driver some time to react. If he wants to be a jerk, he’ll inch forward so I won’t have space to cut in. If he wants to be nice, he’ll stay put and give me space to move in.
Another thing to remember is to watch out for scooters. Most people riding scooters seem to think they are invincible (or have a death wish). They constantly weave in and out and zip by. Some will even try to get past you even when you have your turn signal flashing. So if you see scooters next to your car (which is quite often) be aware of their proximity to your car, but don’t be alarmed if their sideview mirrors accidentally brush against your car. That’s how close they pass by sometimes!
I guess the single most important thing to remember is your mindset. Relax. Don’t stress. You’re not going to die. 
This what really scares me. I’m way more afraid of killing some crazy scooter driver than I am of getting killed myself (when I’m in a car, that is. When I’m on my bike it’s a different story). I’m starting to feel much more comfortable driving outside of Taipei, even on windy mountain roads, but those damn scooters really get to me. But I’ve only driven in Taipei a few times, so maybe (hopefully?) it gets better with practice. :s
Drive a scooter in Taipei for a month or two, so that you understand how “scooter mobthink” works, then driving a car will be easier and safer.
Postgraduate courses include “taxi mobthink” and “blue truck mobthink”. Extra credit for spotting binlang behavior.
It’s a strong test of your emotional intelligence. Seriously. If you can’t remain calm, you shouldn’t get behind the wheel.
I think you’re looking for the right mindset, but you already know what that is–confident, aware, NOT freaked out. If you can’t decide to be that way when you get behind the wheel, you’re going to go through hell on the roads here, and you’ll be a danger to yourself and others.
I think it helps to remember that most people are not trying to kill you. They are just trying to get to their destinations ahead of you. And…there are a zillion idiots on the road who are not nearly as aware as you are.
Exactly, a few scooters and bikers think they were immortal or had nine lives like cats do.
They even act like the roads belong to them and reversedrive bluntly.
Also, watch out for taxi. A lot of taxi drivers can be very rude.
My suggestion to the OP is to stay as vigilant as possible, and it would be of great help if you could implant some eyes on the sides and back of your head. 
I’d like to add that it is very difficult for people to teach or tell you how to drive here in Taiwan, based on their own experiences, because everybody has different levels of tolerance and acceptance towards other peoples’ driving behavior.
Not one single person has learned to drive properly on this island. Not one.
People have either passed a requisite test which has no resemblance to what driving is like in Taiwan, or people have passed a useful test in their respective countries, which has no relevance to what it is like driving in Taiwan.
So this means that everybody you see driving around has had to learn by themselves. They passed their test, and then built up the courage to get into a car and start driving by themselves, perhaps with a friend or family member.
You are going to have to do the same, but the reassurance comes from the fact that everybody else has gone through the same steps as you will.
The best thing about Taipei is that it takes so long to get anywhere in a car, which means that the traffic is really slow. There are few major accidents in Taipei, and the accidents that are major are usually caused by some drunk idiot or some mafia wannabe driving beyond his abilities; or by scooter riders being silly - and they more often than not kill or injure themselves.
You’ll be fine. There is a system. It’s like playing an instrument. Alien at first, but over time and with practice, it becomes second nature.
The only difference that I find here is that you have to constantly be aware of what is going on behind you, as well as to the front and sides. Not that you don’t have to be aware normally, but the local “me first” attitude means that you are likely to have drivers sneaking up behind you very quickly and then passing you very fast on either the left or the right hand side.
Also, the obvious “edge as far to the right towards the curb as early as possible” applies when making a right hand turn, as mentioned above, as scooters will try to sneak by no matter if you have signalled or are even already starting to make your turn.
Other than that, drive at your own pace (read: don’t try to drive as fast as the locals or out of your comfort zone) and always obey the law, so that if anything does happen, you will not be held liable.
Also, make sure that wherever you live has readily available parking. Looking for parking on the street can take hours in some parts of the city.
Welcome back, 914!
1）Go for some taxi rides in some crazy/busy places during peak hour and sit in the front seat. What carefully what is going on and how the taxi reacts. I am not saying you should learn to be a taxi driver but it does help getting this perspective!
Driving in Taipei is actually quite easy, but you need to know 2 things:
Highway driving is another story altogether, that can be very frightening at first.
I drive for a living here, rack up over 20,000kms a year so i probably have covered 100,000+ in my time here.
I tell ya what? This is whatta happened to me. I came over to the USA cuz i cant read chinese to take the driving test in TAiwan. SO? I flunked my first California driving test cuz i ran a STOP sign (the flikin "mericans and their gawwdang STOP signs). Then I went to another DMV joint and I passed the driving test (hallelujah). And then i got my ass back to the wan, armed with me Calif license. And all i has to do was to get ona scale to check my weight , and look at a few symbols on a chart (to check for colorblindness i guess) and i got me Taiwan license.
Then…i rented a car and i ventured onto the streets of TAipei… LORRRDYLOORDY. It was intimidating. I kept my eyes closed most of the time !
Thing is ? I pretty much kept at least one eye closed and just stayed in my lane and magically everything just flowed around me for the next 15 years. I didnt speeed and i dint ran no red lights. And i pretty much kept outa trouble in da big city. I only ran into a moto and a coupla of em ran into me. But nobody died.
STay sane and stay in ur lane and let the traffic flow round ya. You will be fine.
[quote=“smellybumlove”]
2) avoid rush hours, thats 8am-10am and 4pm-7pm, wednesdays and fridays are the worst at those times too.[/quote]
This is very true. Outside of rush hour, driving here is not actually all that bad.
I find driving to be much more passive here than anywhere along the I-95 corridor DC to Boston (US). If I just signal well in advance in the normal flow of traffic, scooters get out of my way as I ignore them and have yet to drill one in > 1 year driving here. One thing to watch is general ignorance of traffic signals and such, as there have been a few times if I simply followed normal flow, I would have demolished someone just speeding through a red light.
[quote=“maunaloa”]Drive a scooter in Taipei for a month or two, so that you understand how “scooter mobthink” works, then driving a car will be easier and safer.
Postgraduate courses include “taxi mobthink” and “blue truck mobthink”. Extra credit for spotting binlang behavior.[/quote]
Watch out for ‘mocars’, cars driven like scooter by drivers who think they can still fit them into the scooter lane. 
I was there 2 years ago bud and i drove my sisters honda and everything was ok ! (sticks tongue out).
[quote=“iix23”]Sweet, we are getting advises from a guy that has not been in the country for 10 years. Feeling safer already. Ha ha ha 
As for me who has been living here for the last 8 years, I just avoid it. Can’t deal with it so I grab a Taxi from Xinzhu to the Canadian office. Otherwise I don’t even venture in Taipei.[/quote]
Sweet, we are getting advices from a hairdresser who has not driven in Taipei for 8 years because she is too much of a pansy to deal with Taipei traffic. Feeling safer already. She just grabs a taxi from Xinxhu to the Canadian office whilst getting a manicure en-route. ha ha ha
[quote=“citizen k”][quote=“smellybumlove”]
2) avoid rush hours, thats 8am-10am and 4pm-7pm, wednesdays and fridays are the worst at those times too.[/quote]
This is very true. Outside of rush hour, driving here is not actually all that bad.[/quote]
Lol, exactly.
If you restrict yourself to driving between 3am and 5am, the most you will come across is a copule of cars, a couple of scooter and some youths walking randomly on the road (:
You just need to plan your job and other actives around these times and you will be ok.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I like the dashboard camera idea! I think I will also take the advice and sit next to the cab driver a couple of times and ask him a bunch of questions (I’m sure I’ll drive him crazy) and get insider tips.
True, traffic flows too slowly to get into a high impact crash, but it’s the darn scooters that shoot out or run lights that I’m afraid of. If they run into our car and get hurt or worse, or hit and run drunks in their rice rockets.
I’ve never been an aggressive driver, but I know in Taiwan you’ll never get anywhere if you’re not pushy when you need to be.
It’ll be a learning experience, for sure. I’m nearly positive we’ll be driving only when we head to Costco or out of town on weekends. 
Day to day transport would likely be public, cab, walking.
Thanks again!