http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7NJ9_8FACg
Here’s a guy that goes flying and skidding for about a hundred yards. I guess sidewalks make for great ramps late at night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjV3vLvbkxw
This is what I was so afraid of when I drove a scooter. Notice that the guy in the car runs the light, and afterwards he isn’t too concerned about the scooter driver. Nor is the cop who is right there.
I had a bad accident near the end of 2001 and I couldn’t drive a scooter again. I busted my hand pretty bad and couldn’t practice for six months. I almost lost the use of my thumb. Afterwards, I ended up walking everywhere, taking the bus, or the MRT. I started shaking if I got on a scooter. To this day, I’m afraid of getting on those things.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Hermann // Oct 28, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Same experiences in Taibei, driving a 125cc “wild wolf” bike for several years, with several accidents.
Though, I didn’t like the buses much (no MRT in those days), as I lived in the mountains of xindian, where they speeded down the hills as if committing suicid.
Therefore I changed to the car. It is also dangerous, not cheap, even getting hit, but just too convenient, with the rain and all this space down south.
2 Michael Turton // Oct 28, 2007 at 7:09 pm
What? C’mon, driving in Taiwan is great! My vocabulary has improved with the addition of the c-word every ten minutes or so, and the adrenalin workout beats any aerobic exercise. And the feeling of detachment from one’s body! What could be better? I always arrive at work experiencing a new joy in being alive!
Michael
3 Dave Chesser // Oct 29, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Michael,
Yes, driving here is too exciting for me. Haha. Now I know why bungee jumping is redundant in Taiwan.
4 C.J.W. // Nov 6, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Even for a native Taiwanese like me, after spending 10 years in the States, I’ve lost the courage to ride a scooter in Taiwan.
When I was 12 and living in Tai-Chung, my friends and I would sneak out of our houses at night riding our parents’ scooters and racing down the street for fun.
Now I feel so lucky that nothing bad ever happened.
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