Should you ride YouBikes on the road or sidewalk?

Wait why would she report me? She wasnt the driver anyway. No damage to her car
You mean to get out of paying for my injuries?
She paid and bounced
She was happy!

Imagine someone hitting your scooter from the back, get thrown off your scooter, a little pain, check you scooter and the driver of the car checks his car an then you part, after nothing really is found. You drive off, he calls the police and reports you. It gets to court and you are ordered to pay 100000 NT$ for hit&run. Really happened.

Yep, leaving the scene of an accident makes you automatically responsible and liable for damages!

The lady left the scene , she was in the lane of traffic
She said sorry are you ok and gave me 1000nt and peaced out

So she was hittin and running? Not me

Any way i know what hit run means , nobody ran.

Thanks im learning about taiwan

If you are not calling the police, you need to make a video. Make sure you have evidence you parted with an agreement, the matter is resolved.
If you have no proof. The other party can wait until you leave and call the police. You will be at fault no matter what for ‘leaving the scene of accident’.

1 Like

Good to know but didnt apply to my situation


Designated bike line


Normal Sidewalk, OK-ish for biking.


Sidewalk with canopies, Not OK. You could get fined TWD 300.

2 Likes

No shouting on your left or ringing the bell. What about those long mixed use trails that are wide enough to accommodate two way bike traffic and considerate pedestrians. Theses trails are also lined with biking graffiti and road are.
Still you
Get inconciderate pedestrians walking 1, 2 or 3 abreast and their butts magically seem to track your every move as you try in vain. to calculate the best route around them.
Can’t I please blow a whistle or ring a bell?
Clarification…
I’m talking long distance mixed use trails that have Ubike kiosks, and or rent all Manor of vehicles. But sometimes there are busses unloading hoards of pedestrians who think nothing about blocking the way (Still, the path is wide enough to accommodate them if they’d just leave a small fraction of the road free. I’m off in The pedestrian on those very same roads with my family but we try to be considerate of everyone.

The bike on sidewalk/road discussion will forever be gray area.

Personally, I think the Youbike belongs on the sidewalk, whenever there’s a designated bike path. Youbikes were not designed to be ridden “fast”. Of course, that doesn’t stop people from making the bike paths a race way, but what can you do?

As a pedestrian, I try not to walk on the designated bike paths and I advise the people I am walking with not to. When I am on the Youbike, I try not to ride inside the canopies and take it slow. If you are really in a rush, take the bus or MRT.

2 Likes

When in doubt, ride on the road. It’s always legal to ride in the scooter lane. They call it 機慢車, or motorcycles and slow-moving vehicles lane. But you gotta ride fast enough like ranlee said and stay in the flow of traffic, or you risk getting knocked over by a scooter.

1 Like

Bells are used to alert people, some have airpods in and dont hear much, some dont care to hear a bell and choose to do nothing.
I ring my loud bell to bikers and walkers especially ones in the bike lane coming towards me face down into their phones.

Bells help from collisions , they are necessary in taiwan!! In the US its something i would never ever use…
Today i rang my bell loudly to a slow female squirrelly ubiker in front of me to alerted her i was going to pass her.
I did pass and she squirreled right into me knocking bars. I was pushed of the bike lane into the street .i have front shocks and im fine with that as long as she didnt crash. But i did ring my bell dam loudly as i went on to let her realize her ears need to be open.

People can cry all they want about bells, i love it when im walking and i hear one .I Kindly look back and move its a great warning.
I actually hate shy passive tw people that follow an obvious walking bike lane blocker forever too affraid to ring a bell.
In the US some peckers use airhorns as a bell to piss people off now thats rude .

Why not? She could just go around the block and come back when you left. Call the police there was an accident, give them your plate and claim you left the scene.
Good luck proving that you did not leave and the matter was settled without any proof.

Such thing happened to a victim of an accident. Some people are just awful in regards of suing and getting paid even if in the wrong.

Plate? I was riding a bike

She gave me 1000nt , what would her insentive be to ask the driver of the car to loop around and call the police? Im missing something?

I find that bells confuse people.

To my experience, it makes them hesitate and think, “oh crap, which way should I move? How far is the person behind me? When will they pass?” Not everyone has good balance and if they need to turn their head, balance sometimes gets thrown off and the likelihood of a collision increases.

I find that passing them slowly on riverside paths and on the city paths is a good way to pass, if you need to. The YouBike free hub is loud enough to let those who are not riding with head phones know that you are close by. For others that have head phones on, I usually take extra precaution when passing.

1 Like

The perfect approach! I usually do what I would do if I was walking behind them, maneuver and go around when possible with a polite Jie Guo if necessary. How rude would it be to walk behind someone and start ringing a bell at them to get out of your way?!

Until I see the bike emblem on the ground I thought was dog walkers lane, they seem to think it is!

Ok heres the deal. The cycling laws here are straight up meaningless. You can ride anywhere.
Taiwanese will ride on the smallest pavements or right in the middle of the fast lanes. Nobody cares.

A bike has a higher law of the jungle level than on foot, this is why you can cycle anywhere. As for the road i guess people are used to driving scooters so riding a bike on the road is more or less the same as that.

Personally i ride on pavements when they are big enough or if riding slow. If im riding fast i will use the road. Riding a bike here is actually a lot fun

1 Like

Thanks for the pictures. When you say TWD300 do you actually mean 300 or 3000?
I’ve never heard of such low fines here haha

1. You can’t ride your bike on the side walk.

Wait, what? Your heard right, it is technically illegal to ride your bicycle on a sidewalk or pedestrian crosswalk if there aren’t markings for a bike lane. This offense can carry a fine of 300NT- 600NT. While I won’t condone breaking this law, I will assert the honest observation that biking on the sidewalk is very common in Taiwan, and I have never seen anyone punished for doing so. If your worried about breaking this law, walking alongside your bike when on a sidewalk or pedestrian crosswalk is a simple solution.

Taipei public park prohibitionsTaipei public park prohibitions

2. Don’t ride your bike in public parks without bike lanes.

Breaking this cycling law carries a hefty price tag of 2,000NT- 10,000NT, but is seldom, if ever enforced. However, you might very well get some glaring looks from upset locals as well as requests from pedestrians to dismount your bike if you are caught riding in a park. This is especially true in large parks where there are clear signs showing that cycling is prohibited.

3. Stay out of the fast lane.

When riding on the road, you should keep as far right as possible to allow other motorists to pass. You may get fined 300NT- 600NT if you violate this traffic code.

4. Don’t use your cellphone while cycling.

Cycling while playing Plants vs. Zombies is dangerous, silly, and illegal. Breaking this cycling law can be punished with a 300NT- 600NT fine.

5. Park in designated areas.

It is against Taiwan’s traffic code to park your bike haphazardly, although it isn’t clear whether or not you can receive a ticket from this. It is ideal to find designated bike parking to leave your bike. If no bicycle parking is available, cyclists are also legally allowed to use scooter parking. It is also very common to sensibly park your bike anywhere as long as it isn’t blocking traffic, or isn’t in any location that will inconvenience others. Just use your common sense on this one.

Bicycles, all illegally parkedBicycles, all illegally parked

6. Your bicycle needs front and rear lights and reflectors.

When driving at night, make sure your bicycle is equipped with proper lights and reflectors. Not only is it dangerous to ride without them, but this offense can carry a 180NT fine.

7. Don’t turn left at major intersections.​

At most large intersections, cyclists cannot directly turn left. You need to do a box-turn, otherwise known as a two-stage turn. At intersections where it is required to do a two-stage turn, you will see a sign indicating a two stage-turn and/or a queue box. You must go straight across the intersection, then stop in the designated queue box. Wait there until the light in the opposing direction turns green. You may then proceed toward your desired direction. Even at intersections where a two-stage turn isn’t required, it is sometimes in your best interest of safety do one anyway, especially at busier intersections. If you want more information about cycling safely in Taiwan, please read this blog post.

Queue box for box turnsQueue box for box turns

8. Don’t drink and cycle, duh!

If your alcohol concentration exceeds .12mg/L (roughly BAC .025) when cycling, then you can be fined 300-600NT, or 1,200 NT if you refuse a breathalyzer test. Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) may top this number after only one drink, so be careful! If you BAC exceeds .25mg/L (BAC.05), or just 2 drinks for many people, then you are considered a public risk, and can even be arrested!

These are most certainty not all of the laws concerning cycling in Taiwan. If it sounds irresistibly exciting to browse an English version of a Taiwanese legal database for more information about cycling laws, as I’m sure it does for most of us, then you can scratch that itch on this website.

2 Likes