Scooting Around Taiwan
Parts of Taiwan have very affordable public transportation systems that get you where you need to go, providing you learn a little Chinese. However, my husband and I live in a new city that is still under construction. The public transportation system is still being developed. Therefore, we had to resort to the next cheapest option, a scooter. Scooters are everywhere. In a country of 23 million people, there are about 15.5 million scooters. You wouldn't believe what people use scooters for. People haul trailers, televisions, dogs, and 2, 3, or even 4 people.
Being completely unfamiliar with scooters, I thought that they could only putt along at 30 mph or so. It turns out that scooters come in all shapes and sizes. Most of the ones driven in Taiwan are very comfortable at speeds of 45-60 mph or more. While that's not the speed of motorcycles, it is certainly fast enough to get yourself seriously injured, and a hospital in Taiwan is the last place I want to end up. To the untrained observer, driving in Taiwan is crazy and chaotic. It appears that there are no driving laws. As it turns out there are lots of very specific driving laws that accommodate scooters and cars. However, most drivers choose to follow the laws loosely at best. As a general rule when driving, one should never assume that any car, truck or scooter on the road ...or sidewalk for that matter...will follow any traffic laws.
On the bright side, having a scooter in Taiwan is dirt cheap. Last week we had a new fuel injector and new brakes installed. It cost us a grand total of 27 US dollars, parts and labor. A tank of gas runs about 3.50 US, and we only fill it up about once every 2 weeks.
So next time you feel like your family is getting too big for the four door sedan, remember that in Taiwan, dad, mom, sister, brother, baby, the family dog and a week's worth of groceries easily fit on one scooter.