I will start this off by saying driving (either driver or passenger) in Taiwan is not for the faint of heart. If you don't hear parts crunching then everything is OK. The mentality is that everyone is driving a scooter, whether it's a scooter, car, truck or bus.
If you don't take the initiative you will never pull away from the curb. Signals are used in Taiwan, not that people pay attention to them. To pull out from the curb you signal then go, if you hesitate you don't get into the flow of traffic. The lanes are narrower than in the US, but they're only used as a suggestion. If the road is marked as 4 lanes (2 in one direction 2 in the other) you will get 3 lanes of cars with the scooters going down the rightside (of course the otherside will be a mirror image). Turning either right or left can be done from any lane, as can u-turns.
Traffic lights are a little funny also, They have red, and yellow flashing lights which in the states would be Stop and Caution, but in Taiwan it's taken as a Go. The regular traffic lights are as follows:
Green = Go
Yellow = Go carefully
Red = Go very carefully
Now there are traffic laws, but most the times the cops are taking accident reports or are directing traffic. It's seldom you will see a police car cruising to give tickets. Most the times the tickets come to them. There is a helmet law for scooters and motorcycles in Taiwan. The cops will station themselves at stoplights, and wait for the scooters to pull up. If they're not wearing a helmet they may get a warning or they may be ticketed. I saw people wearing proper helmets, but also hard hats, and batting helmets.
Driving: There appear to be few road rules in Taiwan. There are some signs in English on the main streets. Supposedly, traffic proceeds on the right-hand side of the road, although some interesting variations have been witnessed.
Rural roads are very good and lead to most major cities. Drivers are a concern, particularly because hurtling down the road at night without headlights is a common practice.
 |
 |
||
|
||
|
 |
Get
your own Epinions.com Affiliate Site |
|
|
