What Can't You Carry On a Scooter

Life Cars & Motorcycles
#1

I am puzzled as a I bicycle to and from work everyday Hsinchu to Jubei. What can’t you carry on a scooter legally? I have seen pet pigs and boy riding backwards carrying a fishbowl. But Monday in the rain and wind I saw two high school age kids on a scooter with a full size piece of plywood. We stopped at a light and there was a cop, never said anything. Besides being huge I was impressed how they could possible hold it with all the wind. Maybe they didn’t later and caused an accident. Are you permitted to drink a beer and talk on a cell phone (at the same time) while riding a scooter. Seen that in front of a cop too.

Mike in Jubei

#2

There is a great book in Vietnam with photos of people carrying bizarre loads on scooters. It was done by a Scandinavin guy who lives there and is brilliant coffee table material. I like the dead shark, and the mirror (the photographer has stayed out of the picture somehow). Has anyone else seen this book?

#3

E.A -
Not seen the book but I would love to have it.
I send pics to people about Taiwan " 'Scooter Antics" quite often.
They don’t believe what I tell them until I send the pictures.

#4

…but you can be sure the police pulls you over when you make a right turn at a red light when there is no traffic whatsoever…

#5

I’ve seen a portly woman on a small scooter holding an umbrella to shade herself from the sun. On a windy day. That plus the wind from riding at speed with only one hand… well, you just have to imagine that she’s on the waiting list for the Darwin awards. :loco:

#6

I saw an older man on a farmers bike yesterday holding an umbrella in the rain.

How the hell did he operate the clutch? :ponder:

#7

And how do dogs stay on the back seat standing up as the scooter goes scooting down the road ? Especially since the normal postion of a Taiwan dog is lying flat under the shade of a blue truck.

#8

I’m glad you asked.

[quote=“In the ROC Motor Vehicle Law, the Powers That Be wisely”]Article 88 The carriage of persons or goods on mechanical bicycles shall be subject to the following regulations:

  1. Goods carried may not exceed 50 kg on a light mechanical bicycle, or 80 kg on a heavy mechanical bicycle. Goods carried may not extend higher than the rider’s shoulders, and the width of goods may not extend more than 10 cm past the outer edge of the handlebars. Length may not extend forward from the rear of the seat, and any portion extending backward may not exceed 0.5 meters past the rear wheel.
  2. If a fixed seat is provided behind the rider on a motorized bicycle, one passenger may be carried.
  3. No goods may be carried behind the passenger. However, miscellaneous objects which will not impact the safety of the rider or the passenger are not included in this limitation.
  4. Passengers on motorized bicycles may not ride sidesaddle.
  5. Both rider and passenger must wear helmets.
  6. For motorized bicycles loaded with substances likely to leak, fly out, or emit an odor, if such leakage or fly out can be prevented, items must be tightly sealed and appropriately secured.
  7. When carrying a passenger, cargo must be stable, and must be tied down or stacked in a stable manner.
    Riders and passengers on motorized bicycles must wear helmets in accordance with the following regulations:
  8. Safety helmets must be of a type used for motorized bicycles, must be inspected and approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, and must bear a sticker attesting to successful passing of inspection or a “plum blossom S product” safety label.
  9. The body of the helmet and all accessories must be complete, and not be damaged, loose or modified.
  10. While in use, the helmet must be facing forward and worn in the appropriate position, with the strap snugly fastened under the chin, and must be suitable for the shape of the wearer’s head. The helmet must be worn securely on the head, must not move from side to side or up and down, and may not obscure the wearer’s lines of vision. [/quote]
#9

[quote=“ironlady”]1. Safety helmets must be of a type used for motorized bicycles, must be inspected and approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, and must bear a sticker attesting to successful passing of inspection or a “plum blossom S product” safety label.[/quote]I didn’t know that! I really thought that all that was legally required of a helmet was that it be some kind of vaguely rigid head covering. Well, that’s probably all that the “standards” amount to anyway, but at least there are some.

#10

A piano, and or a waterbed.
So I’ve been told.
That’s always the case.

#11

[quote=“Ma Ke”]A piano, and or a waterbed.
So I’ve been told.
That’s always the case.[/quote]How about a piano on a waterbed? That would offer a considerable degree of cushioning and as such should present no danger to the public.

:wink:

#12

I have personally managed an ironing board. I was stupid however and realize now what an idiot I was.

#13

I admit to a fair amount of laughter and head-scratching as I translated the entire freakin’ Motor Vehicle law recently, comparing its dictates to my mental pictures of traffic conditions in Taiwan. :smiley:

Cushioning the piano in that way sounds eminently sensible to me, so long as it does not extend past the rider’s shoulders. But I have some tall friends who would be glad to help out for a reasonable fee.

I still remember one time we moved out of a fifth-floor dinglou apartment, and the movers slung our three-seater sofa out the window and winched it down to the ground instead of taking it down the stairs…underneath were all manner of passers-by, including many customers going into a bakery. No one had any inkling this honking enormous sofa was poised precariously over their heads waiting to smush them if one false move were made. No one even thought it necessary to put up a barrier of any kind. (But – hey – everything turned out fine, so obviously this was okay, right? :smiley: )

#14

I’ve personally moved a full-size refrigerator on an old Sanyang 125 motorcycle. I won the respect and admiration of my neighbors in Jiayi for that feat.

#15

A mattress for a double bed on a 50cc scoot. I sat on one end of it and let the other stick out the back. Unfortunately as I took off the tail clipped and knocked down a row of bikes outside an eatery, too busy to stop, I was chased up the road but managed to get the mattress home unscathed.

HG

#16

I thought I see it all, but acording to you guy’s I have sen nothing yet

#17

Oh yes, everything is possible … and Kymco is in the frontline to expand the goods carried … on their 150cc motorcycle they put now double rear suspension and one of their the scooters is getting a bigger flat bottom … so, load up people :s

#18

Does this mean mom will be able to have 6 on a scooter if you have two of the kids sit on the flat bottom ? I have seen 5 this way with one little munchkin on the flat bottom and four total on the seat. Almost no need for school buses at all.

#19

I thought parenting was about protecting and bringing up the child.
After I come here I got the impresion that you should expose it to all hasards so only the ones with the thickest head will survive. :loco:

I daily se mothers driving motorbiked with kid’s and no helmet.
If my wife was doing something like that I would demand divorce and take the kids with me far away where they are safe.

I seriously think the learning off driver moral is a total faliure in taiwan.

#20

[quote=“mikehs”]I am puzzled as a I bicycle to and from work everyday Hsinchu (Xinzhu) to Zhubei. What can’t you carry on a scooter legally? I have seen pet pigs and boy riding backwards carrying a fishbowl. But Monday in the rain and wind I saw two high school age kids on a scooter with a full size piece of plywood. We stopped at a light and there was a cop, never said anything. Besides being huge I was impressed how they could possible hold it with all the wind. Maybe they didn’t later and caused an accident. Are you permitted to drink a beer and talk on a cell phone (at the same time) while riding a scooter. Seen that in front of a cop too.

Mike in Zhubei[/quote]

Legally? The law is irrelevant. The police aren’t around to enforce laws, they are around to make money.

One of the things that outside of Taipei seems to be far too dificult to carry on a scooter is a helmet. Especially for kids (I’m so sick of seeing scooters full of kids where only the parent has a helmet).

The law in Taiwan is a joke. The police are even more of a joke (they violate far more laws than they enforce).