Q) Why do you need to wear a seatbelt in the front, but not in the back?
I DUNNO
In the front your face may get ripped from your skull when you smash through the front wind screen. In the back seat, you are have the back of some soft chair to cusion the impact. I believe this is the reasoning and the law is the same in the US and even Europe I believe.
A more interesting question is why do the taxis remove the seat belts in the back of their taxis? Shouldn’t we have a choice even though it is not mandatory. In the west if they did that, I believe their car would be impounded until they fixed this.
The back seat passenger becomes a high speed missle crashing into the back of the drivers head, killing him instantly. The other possible is that the missle in the back misses the driver, crashes through the windscreen and becomes a new hood ornament.
I have seen enough T.V commercials in NZ about road safety to know that not wearing a seatbelt, regardless of front or back, is stupid.
Why do people riding scooters need to turn the corner on the wrong side of the road? Do they have a death wish???
Boss Hogg,
I agree, but I still don’t always put on my seat belt when sitting in the back seat. However, I always wear one in the front.
The worst I see is children that sit in the back without a seatbelt playing in the space between the two front seats. So easy to fly from the back through the windshield there. COuld you imagine that? The parents survive the crash in the front seat wearing their seat belts only to have to pull their dead bloody faceless child through the otherside of the windshield, whatever, we could go on and on.
I love Taiwan and appreciate the relatively low crime rate, great food, plentiful places to hang out and overall nice people, but the driving conditions are so dangerous and stressful that even if I had a driver, I still couldn’t relax. I long for roads back home where people are so polite at stops signs for example, oh, you first, no you go first please, no I wouldn’t think of it…Here they don’t even stop or look before making a right turn at a stop sign…and the police! The police here are so useless, and such a joke, I wish they would do more than just their job and actually give a damn!
OK, I feel better now, at least until I get back in my car this afternoon.
Because they are in a hell of a hurry and the 0.0002 seconds saved on every corner adds up. 
[quote=“Hobart”]In the front your face may get ripped from your skull when you smash through the front wind screen. In the back seat, you are have the back of some soft chair to cusion the impact. I believe this is the reasoning and the law is the same in the US and even Europe I believe.
[/quote]
Not in the America I grew up in. Since I was a kid, every state I’ve lived in (quite a few) required buckling up in every seat. I figured it was the same for all states, but really not sure.
Around early 80’s in Aus, wearing a seatbelt became law. A high speed accident without a seatbelt, whether you’re in the front or back will have the same result, and it won’t be a happy one. Like NZ, and as Little Iron said, the States, Australia also requires you to buckle up. Perhaps we have more casualties on the road. But when you think about general safety standards in Taiwan, it just seems rediculous.
Again, only yesterday, I saw some whisby skulling lacky dropping boulders down from a 2nd floor building into a truck, as people were just walking by the truck noticing nothing.
A bit of a whinge, sure, but this shit just wouldn’t go down back home.
Someone should import those personal injury lawyers to Taiwan and things might change faster in terms of safety with someone making a lot of money feigning injury and suing others
Thanks for pointing out about the back seat seat belt rule in the US and also in Oz. I have been in Asia for over 7 years now, I suppose I already forgot, but for some reason I have the memory that only the front seat passengers had to buckle up and I had the same question that Amos had.
if you wonder if you need rear seat belts - look what hapened to Lady Di.
Don’t need to say anymore than that.
Well somebody tell Mayor Ma. Taipei taxis usually hide them under the seat or take them out. Wonder how many people have to die before they change the law to at least require the taxi drivers to have seat belts in the back seats?!
FYI: In Germany, you are also required by law to wear a seat belt in the rear seat (not to mention the front seat, of course). Fines are high, and there are very specific rules on putting children in children’s seats.
I rented a car here for my aunt and uncle with their kids, and instead of the Chrysler Voyager we had wanted, they gave us a Volkswagen T4 WITHOUT seat belts in the rear. As my aunt and uncle got out of some serious car accidents relatively unharmed due to wearing seat belts, they felt very uncomfortable. How come car rental agencies even rent out cars like that?
don’t you think that’s irresponsible?
:?
Iris
I asked a taxi driver once about why he didn’t have accessible safety belts in the back seat of his car. He gave me a vague answer with the meaning that it makes it more comfortable for the passengers in the back if they aren’t sitting on the protruding clips.
Someone should ask the drivers WHY.
I bet everyone in the back seat dutifully buckles them too, especially when they are moving at 250KM per hour on the autobahn.
Have I mentioned that I have problems with speed limits (not with them being there but with sticking to them)? 
Well, it depends on the car, of course. I only drove a car once or twice that could make 200.
Iris
This is something that really bothers me about Taiwan. As Amos said it is a law in Australia and in a high speed crash it doesn’t make much difference if you are in the front or back. The worst thing is not the fact that there is no law about seat belts in the back seat, but that most cars have no seat belts in the back!!! It is crazy. Perhaps we just have to wait until some legislators son or daughter gets killed in an accident because they weren’t wearing a seat belt in the back seat before anything will change.
Back to the Topic at hand, Taiwan Why Questions.
Why are we spending so much time talking about seat belts?
Well Boss, I’ll be happy to move it on a little. Why do people wear their jacket backwards while riding a scotter?
I do that too, yeeessh - I have been here too long.
I do it because when you ride a motor cycle it gets a little windy - but the weather is still pretty hot so you don’t want to zip up the jacket. By wearing the jacket backwards you get some protection from the wind and you don’t over heat. Also, in the winter the strong wind doesn’t cut into you through the zip or button area on your jacket.
Or, am I just trying to excuse the fact that I have gone LOCO, I mean Local?
No wonder you could never catch Bo and Luke