Tee hee. I have taken my mountain bike out 3 times so far and every time have almost had my nose on the back of a bus that seems to think it is ok to cut across a speeding push bike and then jam on the brakes…probably very funny for everyone on board as well as the cyclist…right?
I alternate between a Zen-like calm and violent outbursts of anger. During my mere ten-minute ride to work, I lose count of the reckless dickheads pulling stupid stunts. The second worst part of life in Taiwan as far as I’m concerned.
Oh no you don’t, big guy. You must now tell us what the worst part of life in Taiwan is.
In my opinion, what you see in traffic is just another manifestation of the “Me First!!!” culture that reigns supreme in Taiwan, in my home country, and in every planet on the face of the earth. It’s just that folks back home tend to be more well-behaved while out driving, knowning that the person they cut off is likely to have a gun hidden under the seat.
sojourner wrote [quote]Though I fear the Zen-like calm might be more like impassiveness in my case.[/quote]
Well, the calm is me mumbling mantras to myself; “Don’t take it personally,” “It’s not worth getting upset over,” and so on. Of course, it doesn’t really work when the adrenaline kicks in after some retard has narrowly missed you. I’ve actually followed blue trucks, given the drivers abuse and asked them for fisticuffs. In all three cases they’ve backed off. Weasel pricks. Just watch outside an elementary school and see how many people slow down.
While I agree that you find morons everywhere, there are a few differences in terms of local drivers:
Generally speaking, bad drivers in Western countries at least know the function of turning signals. They have at least a passing familiarity with the need for highbeams and the dangers of using them innapropriately (i.e. on oncoming traffic, etc.). They don’t believe that driving with your lights on “wastes gas”.
The kind of “If I speed up reeeeally fast, I can fit (and incidentally, fuck you if you crash because of it)” mentality seems to be limited mostly to guys in their late teens and early twenties elsewhere. Here is it equal opportunity selfish and dangerous driving.
Honking isn’t seen as worse than reckless driving elsewhere.
I agree with Tomas, actually. And let me add, I’m getting one laugh after another translating the entire road code into English. Had no idea that turn signals are required by law, there are standards for which lanes you can use, you can’t use the opposite lane to get first in line to turn left, cargo piled on a motorcycle can’t be higher than the rider’s shoulders…fascinating fictional reading if you need an escape. I keep trying to relate what I’m translating to actual road behaviors in Taiwan and failing miserably.
What I hate most is people acting as if they don’t see oncoming traffic when they turn into a main road. You could be coming at a speed of 100km/h and it wouldn’t stop and old lady turning in right in front of you with her legs dangling on either side of her scooter wearing a damned nazi helmet looking left and right, but not for reasons of traffic safety, and acting as if the world is at peace :fume: .
The other bane of my life is people reversing their scooters right into oncoming traffic or people walking.
I don’t think the idea of “right of way” has been established yet.
Another thing to watch out for is people driving in the wrong direction on the sides of the roads without any compunctions.
Dilivery guys, dustmen, post office people and road construction workers are above the rest of the nation. They can do anything the please.
What’s worse is that the terrible traffic conditions here are causing me to change my normal defensive driving to offensive driving. The best form of defense is attack! You have to look more careless han the others to gain any respect, it seems.
I too seem to fluctuate between the days when it’s actually a pleasure to ride through the centre of Taipei. The other drivers are well behaved, I spot the gaps and move smoothly through them.
And then there are the days when after 15 minutes in a torential downpour I get home and my nerves are frayed to breaking point because the fuckwit drivers don’t seem to appreciate that the roads are really slippery when wet and that being on 2 wheels makes you more vulnerable than being on 4.
[quote=“StuartCa”]
And then there are the days when after 15 minutes in a torential downpour I get home and my nerves are frayed to breaking point because the fuckwit drivers don’t seem to appreciate that the roads are really slippery when wet and that being on 2 wheels makes you more vulnerable than being on 4.[/quote]I’m pretty sure that 99% of all car drivers out there have ridden a motorcycle or scooter at some point and the vast majority used one on a daily basis before getting a car. Part of your problem is that they know how much it sucks to ride in the rain, but that just makes it more enjoyable to sit in the dry while shitting on you out there on your bike. The other part is that they still have this mindset of ‘it’s raining, get home asap’ from the days when they owned a scooter. They haven’t adjusted yet.
Everyone knows that the cops run for cover at the first sign of rain and that radar based cameras don’t work either.
In a situation where I have been wronged and someone gets pissed off at me, I get off my bike, pull off my helmet and start agressively walking towards the person while yelling and looking straight at them.
The take off in quite a hurry. I do judge the situation first i.e. If it’s a blue truck, taxi, of a car with tinted windows then I don’t do anything.
First time I saw those type of helmets that’s exactly what I thought too - “WTF? That scooter helmet looks exactly like a WW2 era Nazi Combat helmet.” Bizarre. Then the other day, I saw a fat, grumpy looking old man wearing one of those that actually had two Nazi flag stickers on either side.
:loco: Very odd.
One of my friends at Kojen once got given a one-on-one student who had named himself Goebbels. He talked to her for an hour about how much he admired the philosophy of Hitler and the Third Reich, and how much he hated dark-skinned people. Quite understandably, she refused to teach him any more, and I think Kojen kind of told him to get lost too.
I got in a taxi this morning and soon realized my driver, Mr Bin Lang, was training for the World Rally Championships (WRC).
Anyway, after about 5 minutes of Insane (even for Taipei) driving he barrelled through a pedestrian crossing and took out a guy. The taxi tried to keep going, but could not for the volume of other people also on the crossing. The businessman picked himself up and came over and tapped on the driver’s window (thankfully he did not appear to have any broken limbs), and said something along the lines of “pardon me, but do you realise that you just ran me over” somewhat politely.
Anyway, Mr Bin Lang went psycho, along the lines of “how dare you speak to me, particularly after I just ran you over. Don’t you realize who is the big boss of the roads around here, and I am actually in training for the WRC”. The screaming quickly escalated. After 2 minutes of this not looking like it was going to stop I paid the fare, got out, walked up to the businessman and apologised on behalf of the good in all mankind, and got into another cab. He took my apology and was happy to walk away.
As the cab no longer had a passenger, the cab felt he was no free to leap out of the cab and assult the businessman, which he did.
[quote=“Tomas”][quote=“Dangermouse”]
Something has really pissed you off recently, hasn’t it Tomas? [/quote]
Not at all, but I do appreciate the wild assumption. Very helpful.
Nah, I’m still the same warm, fuzzy fellow I’ve always been. Still, it seems I’m ruining the party. You kids have fun now ![/quote]
Hmmm. I find Tomas to be the exact opposite in fact. I generally think that every time I see his avatar that I am about to read some comments filled with insite and calm.
Sadly, road construction vehicles ARE exempt from the normal restrictions of the traffic code…as are police, firefighters and ambulances. Not that it does the ambulances much good. Get a taxi to the hospital, you’ll lose less blood in the process.
!
I keep trying to relate what I’m translating to actual road behaviors in Taiwan and failing miserably.