Motor Scooter Accidents
- By dokuya
- 1 March, 2014
- 14 Comments
Riding a motor scooter in Taiwan is dangerous. It is however almost a necessary evil. Under the right conditions it is a lot of fun and very convenient but you always have to expect the unexpected. On major roads it is illegal for a scooter to make a left hand turn. They use a 2 step turn method that keeps the scooters from turning through live on coming traffic making it safer. If you decide to ride in Taiwan I would suggest that you talk with someone who has experience and can share some insight with you. Expect people to run red lights, drive the wrong direction, drive on the sidewalk, pass you on either side, drive at night with the lights off, make illegal turns and cut you off just to mention a few things.
I would suggest not to drive defensively but to drive with clear intention. Drive straight and if you weave a little make sure that no one is passing you when you do. When you drive with clear intention everyone will understand what you are doing and drive in coordination with your intentions. When you watch people drive you may wonder why they do what they do….then when you drive you realize that you have to do what you have to do.
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Juan, after seeing these videos I think you get rid o f the scooter and get a car. Better yet get a tank!
Public transportation is the best option. My plan is to never drive a car in Taiwan much less own one.
Haha….those traffic lights are for polices , not for riders and drivers in Taiwan. Sorry about this.
I continue to drive a motorcycle in Taiwan and I am getting more comfortable. It takes a lot of practice. When I go to new places I frequently see traffic patterns that are confusing to me. Yesterday I saw something like 3 streets running on angles intersecting at a staggered distance. I was stopped by a red light and was wondering how this could possibly work but if you follow your light it does.
The way traffic lights are positioned often makes little sense for the traffic situation they are supposed to control.
Imagine this:
You drive on a major road and approach a major intersection – with another major road.
Twenty meters from that intersection a minor road joins your road on the left. Another minor road, smaller than the other one, joins on the right.
There are three traffic lights – all three positioned at the major intersection at a slight angle toward the road they are meant for but you’d have to guess.
To help you guess signs with street names are attached below the light. So, if you know the name of the road you’re on that helps.
The major road has a green phase of 60 seconds. The larger minor road on the left has a green phase of 45 seconds. The smaller minor road on the right side has a green phase that lasts 14 seconds but the cars on the main road don’t stop anyway because this is how most people (including me) approach the situation:
See if one of the lights is green. If not stop. If yes drive – carefully.
All this reminds me to Italy. It works like liquid, the traffic. Major difference: Italians know how to drive.
Some rules and observations:
Most people can’t really drive.
A LOT of people drive without a license. They don’t know the rules.
People drive as if they are walking in a crowd. Cars and motorcycles are used to get ahead faster but they are essentially used like a pair of shoes.
Some people have a death wish.
People have a bias against stopping. The best they are willing to do is to slow down. Coming to a stop is considered failure.
Red lights are often ignored – unless there is radar.
The smaller your vehicle the less respect you get.
The written test (and all the study material that comes with it) has not a single question that deals with the right of way, who has to yield to whom. It all works like the law in the jungle with survival instinct being an important factor.
Still, I’m comfortable driving motorcycle in Taiwan. Had only one accident. I also drive a car – a van. Gets a lot of respect – size matters.
Ralph. You are exactly on the money in all respects. I’ve had one accident and really didn’t enjoy it. IT HURT!
However, I’m still riding my scooter. It is fun – lots and lots of fun.
In conclusion – you are absolutely correct about everything.
Including the driving tests.
I once saw a car run across a large intersection – hardly any traffic – and crash into a concrete pylon. Just like that.
Ralph those are all good observations. One other thing that has always amazed me is how many scooters drive at night with their lights turned off.
Drive defensively. Drive like an accident can occur at any moment. You may be a good driver, but mot of the other people are not good drivers.
If you noticed most of the accidents were a result of just plain stupidity. Drive like everybody is in a I-am-going-to-do-smething-stupid-now frame of mind and you might live another day accident free.
so far, I have not had a serious accident in 27 years. I ride at the front of the pack or the back of the pack I pay attention to what’s ahead of me more than behind me. I don’t speed. I don’t EVER run red lights!!!! I don’t EVER drive against the flow of traffic. If you are breaking traffic laws when the accident happens, you are at fault. You are not in your home country. Get ready for a run around and an expensive settlement.
DRIVE defensively….
You have 90 days to get a license. If you don’t have one, get one. Just because you don’t have one doesn’t automatically make you at fault. Don’t drink and drive…unless you have 80,000 dollars and want to spend a few nights in jail.
I like your suggestion of being ahead of the pack or behind the pack. I was at a stop light and I counted 61 scooters waiting for the light to turn green. I was in the middle. This was early in my scooter driving experience. When the light almost turned green everyone took off and you really had no choice but to go. It was like a collective consciousness, you moved in unison period. It was blocks before the crowd thinned out.
Mark – very wise words. I agree totally with everything you have written. I would strongly urge all foreigners (like myself) to have some respect for Taiwan and get a licence for your scooter (and the other for your car). I’d expect a foreigner to do the same in my country.
If police gave tickets more often…if they understood the traffic laws, that is, and the tickets were huge dollar amounts like they were in America, eventually people would start obeying some laws. I also believe a person driving without a license should have to serve jail time, maybe 30 days for the first offense. Driving without a license is like attempted assault and shold be treated as such.