On my way back to work this afternoon … a 2 minute ride … I managed to count about 17 traffic violations, trucks, buses, cars, scooters, pedestrians … go figure … 
I see that every time I walk to the MRT station 8 minutes away from my house. I never cross the street without eyeballing the oncoming traffic until I’m on the other side.
There is a police station halfway between my house and the MRT station. If anything, people seem to be more motivated to break the law when they’re in front of the station.
A disgusting state of affairs, it is.
Multiply that figure with 30 (60 minutes - 1 hour) and you immediately are able to figure out how much money the government loses daily … :eh:
Cameras at traffic lights recording license plates of cars running red lights and sending them tickets would cover the national budget. They could eliminate income tax…
Just this morning on my way to work I had to give way to four construction lorries running the red light. So, arsehole that I am, I stopped at a green to allow these twats to proceed. But, I did manage to slip in a loud “fuck you” that took the smirk right off the last driver’s face. :s
Beetel nut chewing, whisby slugging, shit for brains asshats. :blah:
Never thought I would lower meself to this level. :neutral:
Yea, my feet are itching daily to give a swift kick to u-turning jerks who cut all the scooters off then give a strange look when I yell at them.
I really love the middle-aged housewives on 50cc scoots who make it a point to maneuver their way to the front of the line at a red light, only to go 25 KPH when it it turns green. Then they do it again at the next light.
The ingrained concept of whoever gets there first has the right-of-way is gonna get someone killed…oh, that already happens.
Speaking of yelling the F word to stupid traffic violators…
One day I was riding my moped in a two lane street when this middle-aged guy in the incoming (opposite) lane decided to pull a turn by cutting through my lane WITHOUT signaling first. Gosh how I hate it when Taiwanese people do that - and I see them do it ALL THE TIME!!! To them the left and right signal lights are only for decoration purposes. Anyway, I almost ran into him and out of anger yelled “F*** You! Is this how you drive here huh? Can’t wait to die can you?” Okay I might have over-reacted a bit, but it is not the first time people trying to make a turn like this that makes me almost run into them. Well, this guy went chasing me on the road and hit me with his moped when I stopped. So I lost my mind and tried to run my moped into his as well. Since I don’t have as much experience running over people as the locals do here, I ended up flipping my moped off and hurt my foot while letting the bastard get away on his goddamn moped. Pretty stupid, I know. But I’ve been practicing now so that next time I meet that son of bitch I can show off what I’ve learned from him…or so I wish 
I observed something bizarre today. So apparently it’s illegal to turn right on red, and the government has started to crack down on it with heavy fines. At the same time, they must have also reevaluated a couple of intersections for traffic safety and decided that some are safe to allow right turns on red and therefore added green right turn signals to the lights. Well, out of fear or sheer idiocy, I would see scooters all gathering up in the little penalty box and waiting to turn right at a red EVEN WHEN THE GREEN RIGHT TURN LIGHT IS ON! I guess that’s the only thing the locals fear: heavy fines. Safety is not a concern, but getting a $5000 ticket in the mail is.
The aggression and arrogance of drivers in Taipei is by far and away the worst complaint I have of living here. I can not fathom what it is about locals here that they can be so polite, considerate and helpful to others. Then stick them inside a 2 tonne machine and they loose their minds and instantly become arrogant thugs.
I have noticed though, a really vicious circle that seems to perpetuate some of the worst driving habits here. One being peoples absolute unwillingness to let another driver through. And the other is when drivers cut across into the opposite lane in front of oncoming traffic in order to make a left turn. And one seems to encourage the other.
A huge campaign is certainly needed to change peoples mindsets and driving habits. More cameras, on the spot fines, and police who actually watch for and chase those self-absorbed lunatics who break red lights at 100KMP while the adjacent traffic is already starting to move. I think a practical problem though is that there are so many thugs, criminals and low-life drivers who the police would be afraid to stop, that any campaign would inevitably not focus on the people it most needs to focus on.
Also they badly need to overhaul the driving qualifications in Taiwan. I did my car driving test here. I can’t emphasize enough how inadequate it is. I took mandatory lessons in how to park a car. Never drove the car outside of the small driving school yard, and got a full drivers license.
You know what, don’t get me started I’ll be writing furiously here for a week!!
[quote=“IrishTony”]The aggression and arrogance of drivers in Taipei is by far and away the worst complaint I have of living here. I can not fathom what it is about locals here that they can be so polite, considerate and helpful to others. Then stick them inside a 2 tonne machine and they loose their minds and instantly become arrogant thugs.
I have noticed though, a really vicious circle that seems to perpetuate some of the worst driving habits here. One being peoples absolute unwillingness to let another driver through. And the other is when drivers cut across into the opposite lane in front of oncoming traffic in order to make a left turn. And one seems to encourage the other.
A huge campaign is certainly needed to change peoples mindsets and driving habits. More cameras, on the spot fines, and police who actually watch for and chase those self-absorbed lunatics who break red lights at 100KMP while the adjacent traffic is already starting to move. I think a practical problem though is that there are so many thugs, criminals and low-life drivers who the police would be afraid to stop, that any campaign would inevitably not focus on the people it most needs to focus on.
Also they badly need to overhaul the driving qualifications in Taiwan. I did my car driving test here. I can’t emphasize enough how inadequate it is. I took mandatory lessons in how to park a car. Never drove the car outside of the small driving school yard, and got a full drivers license.
You know what, don’t get me started I’ll be writing furiously here for a week!!
taiwancelts.com[/quote]
You could’ve simply gotten a driver’s license without taking the test if you have the proper documents. All you need is your ARC, foreign passport and your drivers license authenticated by your consulate office (US citizens can do this at AIT for USD$30). You simply need to prove that you weren’t in Taiwan when you took your driving test and got licensed in your home country.
And yes, this unwillingness to bulge and make way for other drivers is just annoying. It is a vicious cycle though, since the roads, street signs and traffic signals were so poorly designed in Taiwan in the first place that there would be no room for you if you let others through. I still can’t understand why at some intersections you’re allowed to turn right on GREEN onto another street where the light is ALSO GREEN at the same time.
And the most annoying thing is the effing horn. Everyone here honks like there’s no tomorrow, yet because you hear horns ALL THE TIME people just end up ignoring it, and not willing to be ignored people just horn even harder, louder and more frequently. The horn has lost its meanings and usefulness in Taiwan and only serves as backdrop in this heavily noise-polluted society along with the constantly blazing sirens and strobelights on emergency service vehicles (because they can’t get anywhere in sub-20 km/h traffic since no one lets them through ever).
I thought this was only true if the issuing agency of your driver’s license (in the case of the US, each particular state) recognized Taiwan’s licenses. Reciprocity, and there are few states in the US who recognize Taiwan’s DL’s.
[quote=“catfish13”]And yes, this unwillingness to bulge and make way for other drivers is just annoying. It is a vicious cycle though, since the roads, street signs and traffic signals were so poorly designed in Taiwan in the first place that there would be no room for you if you let others through.[/quote]I am guilty of this under some circumstances. If it’s a “merge” situation, as in one lane ending or a highway on ramp or something, then I allow space. If it’s the case of some impatient idiot driving up on the shoulder, or passing stopped traffic in one lane as far as they possibly can then try to cut back in to avoid “waiting in line”, they can kiss my fuzzy white butt.
In the US, people honk the horn when someone gets in your way, IE violates the generally accepted rules of Right of Way. Here, people honk their horn to let you know they will GET IN YOUR WAY, as in running red lights. How ironic.
I thought this was only true if the issuing agency of your driver’s license (in the case of the US, each particular state) recognized Taiwan’s licenses. Reciprocity, and there are few states in the US who recognize Taiwan’s DL’s. [/quote]
I got my Taiwan DL going through this route from my CA DL. AIT has a specific webpage dedicated to this.
Or these ridiculous unidirectional green lights. Apparently it’s illegal to turn left when the straight green arrow is lit and you’d have to wait your turn until the left turn green arrow is on. However, I’ve gotten honked waaaaay too many times by impatient cabbies.
There are also a lot of other weird things I’ve observed when it comes to street design and traffic control. Sometimes when you’re driving in the innermost lane, you’d have to merge out of it into the adjacent lane because the innermost lane will turn into left-only lanes. And maybe it’s because none of my relatives have sports cars in Taiwan, but I could NEVER manage to accelerate or slow down quickly enough to meet the speed limits. This is especially evident on the freeways: the onramp speed limit is 40 km/h yet the average speed on the freeway is 90-100 km/h, so once you drive up the onramp at 40 km/h you’d have to accelerate in a split second to near the flow of traffic or else you’d never be able to merge in; and on the offramps you’d have to decerlerate from 90 km/h down to 40 km/h if you were to meet the speed limits and be prepared to stop on a dime if the driver in front of you manages to pull off this stunt.
This is great news, and different from what I’d read previously. CA was mentioned specifically for not recognizing TW DL’s, therefore TW didn’t recognize CA’s DL. Gotta check it out.
The only reason I haven’t gotten a TW DL is because I can’t be bothered to learn how to drive a backwards “S”. I will NEVER be in that situation. I’ve never driven my car on any narrow, winding roads.
Could you show me? I went to AIT’s site and only found this:
[quote]How to apply for a Permanent Driver’s License.
If you have a Taiwan National ID Card and a valid US driver’s license OR
If you have an ARC and a valid driver’s license from a selected list of U.S. States (currently only Oklahoma), your driver’s license can be exchanged for the same class of license without your having to take a driving test. [/quote]
This was further confirmed, that Oklahoma is the only state whose drivers can directly apply for a TW DL without taking the test, on TW Motor Vehicle Office’s web site:
english.taipei.gov.tw/tcmvd/inde … ordid=6219
Could you show me? I went to AIT’s site and only found this:
[quote]How to apply for a Permanent Driver’s License.
If you have a Taiwan National ID Card and a valid US driver’s license OR
If you have an ARC and a valid driver’s license from a selected list of U.S. States (currently only Oklahoma), your driver’s license can be exchanged for the same class of license without your having to take a driving test. [/quote]
This was further confirmed, that Oklahoma is the only state whose drivers can directly apply for a TW DL without taking the test, on TW Motor Vehicle Office’s web site:
english.taipei.gov.tw/tcmvd/inde … ordid=6219[/quote]
Mmmm, maybe I was mistaken. I was blessed with having an old national ID card, and they took my application without a problem. Although the processing clerk was clueless as after spending a good half hour verifying every single stamp on my entry/exit records and every number and letter on my CA DL down to the tee she still asked me in what state my license was issued. In that case, I apologize.
The quality of driving here was much better Back in The Day when everyone was drunk.
When driving home this afternoon I was following this tofu brain scooter punk, no helmet, weaving through traffic, arriving on a major intersection and the light on red, the guy decides to pick up his cell phone, and just go for it, drive through the red light … :loco: :ohreally:
That makes him the traffic violation champ of the day … no helmet, going through the red light and talking on the phone … 
oh, he had a bad haircut too … 
An off duty cop on a department scooter pulled out of a lane while I was at an adjoining red light. No helmet. Ran the red and made an illegal left turn. He has my vote for best violator and a stunning example of the “finest” and their regard for violators.
Could you show me? I went to AIT’s site and only found this:
[quote]How to apply for a Permanent Driver’s License.
If you have a Taiwan National ID Card and a valid US driver’s license OR
If you have an ARC and a valid driver’s license from a selected list of U.S. States (currently only Oklahoma), your driver’s license can be exchanged for the same class of license without your having to take a driving test. [/quote]
This was further confirmed, that Oklahoma is the only state whose drivers can directly apply for a TW DL without taking the test, on TW Motor Vehicle Office’s web site:
english.taipei.gov.tw/tcmvd/inde … ordid=6219[/quote]
There is an article on licenses here. for some information.
…we need a license to drive here?
:roflmao: