Rules of driving

There are many surprises since we arrived in Taiwan. One of the main surprises is the ease with which I have adapting to the rules of driving here. Really, I thought it was going to extremely difficult and stressful to be behind the wheel. It turns out that I quickly became a native driver.. well, as long as there are not 80 scooters behind me or passing me all at once, which does happen during rush hours.

So, the big difference is the quantity of scooters on the streets. At first, we didn't know whether to yield to them, but it soon became clear that they don't expect to be yielded to, though they find ways to get around you swiftly. THIS can be a little scary if you are afraid of hurting someone. Some scooter drivers get the best of both worlds in terms of what rules they abide by: They treat themselves either like pedestrians or drivers depending on what's convenient. Okay, there are plenty of drivers more notorious and plenty of scooter riders polite and law-abiding. I guess I am just reporting the traffic scene from the perspective of a new driver in Taiwan.

Paul made a very clever observation which has helped both of us a great deal while driving: Basically, the only rule for every motorist is to keep moving forward somehow. So, look ahead, and your one and only goal is to go forward. Things will work itself out if everyone just move forward. That is, don't worry about traffic behind you or next to you, just go, go, go!

This does seem to work, and if you are in Taiwan, I am happy to drive you around. We'll move forward together towards our destination. So far, even Taipei hasn't scared me too much. I guess I have DC traffic to thank for this level of ease.