If talking about reasons for me not wanting to move back to Taiwan, traffic problems will definitely be one of my reasons. Starting by talking about vehicle's road tax and motor insurance first. UK's road tax is base on the vehicle's carbon dioxide emission; so older cars or larger car engines produces more carbon dioxide and thous have to pay more road tax. This greatly reduces people buying unnecessary “big” cars and encourages to buy the car that meets their needs. In comparison to Taiwan's auto market trend, Taiwanese tends to buy saloon or sedan size cars even though Taiwan's roads are not so big and does not require any car that is over the capacity of 2.0L engine to be honest.
Another method of controlling the road traffic in UK is its motor insurance policy; UK's motor insurance is base on the vehicle's engine size and the policy holder's personal details. This means that younger and less experience drivers will have more expansive insurance, which reduces the immature and less experience drivers on the road. Unlike Taiwan, anyone, even teenager from eighteen years old that just got his or hers driver licence can drive a powerful vehicle straight away with the same cost as a ten years driving experience driver. Vehicle with more powerful engine and bigger size cause more damage than smaller engine and size cars. Young and less experience driver have greater risks of causing accident.
The most important difference in Taiwan and UK's motor insurance policy is that; UK's motor insurance is base on the driver's insurance not the car and can only be use on that person, so for example; if I bought the insurance with details of this car, this will be the only car that I can drive, no one else should be able to drive my car without buying their own insurance and this is the same for me not able to drive other people's car with buying another insurance corresponding to that car. This can effectively control which type of people should drive which car, but the downside is that it will cost more money for every member of the same family to drive the same car , beginner drivers who want to drive a car at younger age will require to pay to more and lastly wealthier people can just spend a fortune to make their sons and daughters to qualify for driving big cars at a low age.
Looking at the news recently, about the foreigners coming to Taiwan and saw the Taxi driver's behaviors on road. This shows that Taiwan's road regulations are not strict enough, it is very common in the West that drivers cannot talk on cell phone or watch TV whilst driving.
The “driving schools” in Taiwan also shows the Taiwanese attitude towards many things. Taiwanese who go to those “school” only want to pass the test to get the license, not to actually learn how to drive. The instructors teach them methods to park in specific orders that would be useless outside in the “real world” unless there is a “pole” for you to look. Taiwanese often take the test but don't actually drives a car until years later, they took the test just because everyone does it, just like every Taiwanese now thinks a Master Degree is essential, but that is another matter.
Lastly, the most important method to make sure the roads are safe to drive depends on strict rules and suitable fines and prosecution, which are enforce by police and government. Human contains the same basic attitude in every country, if strict law enforcement takes place, people will stick to the law of transport more, traffic and transport is a big area and it requires not only the government to pay more attention but also everyone that has a vehicle or not. |
