The reason asian drivers seem bad over hereHaving spent a bunch of time in Taiwan recently I can explain why immigrant asian drivers seem bad over here. First off you have to understand in Taiwan at least (maybe not so much Japan but definately mainland China as well) there are a zillion scooters whizzing around at all times and nobody pays much attention to the lines on the road or the 'rules' really at all because if you did you would never get anywhere. They drive slow so that they can react quickly if something jumps out of a side street. Now over here (Europe, North America) mostly follow the rules of the road so we can drive a lot faster. It's more of a cultural thing - not just that they can't see over the dash (although I love that effect when it looks like the car is driving itself)
If you took a good driver here and dropped them in a car in Taipei they would probably be considered a bad driver and get in quite a few accidents until they adapted as well
(If you took a good driver here and dropped them in a car in Taipei they would probably be considered a bad driver and get in quite a few accidents until they adapted as well
nocarrier,
Fri 10 Oct 2003, 17:40,
archived)
I can understand that.When I was in the military, I had to drive a military Hummer through residential japanese streets...
They probably thought I was a maniac, since the vehicle was as wider than the lane, the steering wheel was on the left side, and I drove at standard American speeds.
(,
Fri 10 Oct 2003, 17:49,
archived)
They probably thought I was a maniac, since the vehicle was as wider than the lane, the steering wheel was on the left side, and I drove at standard American speeds.