The Right of ... What?

It’s hard to imagine ‘structured randomness’ but that’s essentially what Taiwan is like in terms of getting around. Sure, there are traffic lights, crosswalks, and traffic cops, but I truly believe that most of that is for show, especially in southern Taiwan. Maybe the ‘walk’ sign says you can cross the street, but believe me, you better have your head on a swivel regardless. There are plenty of cabs, scooters, and trucks that could care less about a cross walk or the fact that you’re on it. The smallest opening is just an opportunity to continue their journey from point A to point B and more often than not, that gap is too small for the opportunistic cab driver anyway. But ultimately, what can you do? When I first got here with my western mindset, I’d get angry at drivers for coming literally within inches of hitting me. It was so close I might as well have opened the car door and hopped in. A couple times I did get hit while riding my bike. Crossing the street a cab nudged my back tire as he crept forward into the crosswalk. It was rush hour and I guess he, like me, had a place to be. But it wasn’t even worth stopping for. It wasn’t enough to knock me off and I wasn’t rolling on the ground in agony so I just continued on my way, just as he did. In the United States there would at least have been an exchange of angry looks or a string of your best curse words. In Taiwan, it’s not a big deal and I’ve grown to not care, and to just let it slide like everyone else. Only stop if it’s worth stopping for.

Everyone has the right of way and if you try to apply a western law or methods to it, the system will break down-only then will you have an accident (or you'll never get to where you want to go because you'll be waiting for everyone else.) People cross the street when cars are barreling down on them at what seems like 50MPH. But that’s what brakes are for, right? And they do brake. All the while, there is no long drawn out blow of the horn because that’s just the way it is. Scooters pull onto a street and the driver isn’t even looking at the car coming, but the car see’s the scooter and subsequently slows down. It amazes me that there aren’t more accidents. I saw a car one time that was in the far left right lane, but he wanted to turn left. Instead of going through the intersection and making a U-turn a few streets down, they flipped on their blinker and decided that crossing 4 lanes of traffic was more convenient. Now, this did stir some anger among the drivers behind him. The last thing that slammed on its brakes before he made his left turn was a public bus, yet there was still no horn. If this were in the states, the drivers behind this bold individual would’ve nuked his car. There would be blood in the streets. In Taiwan cars make U-turns when there’s enough space on a two-lane road, sometimes when there isn’t enough space, red lights are suggestions, and if going the wrong way is more convenient, then go against traffic (albeit, this happens more in the south). Don’t forget to wave.

Adapting to this quickly definitely lowered my blood pressure. After all it’s a city and its crowded. If something happens while you’re walking along, such as someone getting in your way when you have the “right of way,” going against the flow of people, or knocking into you, its whatever. Who cares? They don’t care-that is clear when you try to glare at them and they just keep walking. I’m sure if you confronted them about it, they wouldn’t know what you were talking about because it’s so common. Just today, I saw a westerner on their bike crossing the street via crosswalk. The little green man said she had the “right of way.” Meanwhile, a cab driver taking a right turn inched so close to this her that she got offended. The biker stopped and just glared at the cab driver through her designer sunglasses in the middle of the street. The cab driver just stared back and eventually laid on the horn to get the person to move. My conclusion: This westerner must’ve just arrived. So move along missy, this isn’t home and you’re in a different country. Your rules don’t apply.

Now, I’m not saying that there are no accidents at all. I’ve heard some stories that hurt just hearing them. But it surprises me that there aren’t more. With this form of seeming chaos, I would think there would be people on crutches and in bandages everywhere, but that’s just not the case. In the end, are Asians such bad drivers? Or are they just in another country using their own standard of getting around? While getting from point A to point B is not the structure that I am used to, I guess there is some form or structure after all.