Some Reminders for Taiwanese Drivers and Motorcyclists About Lanes and Alleys

As anyone has spent any time in Taiwan knows, there's quite a bit of bad driving on the roads here. This is an off-the-cuff lecture/rant about misuse of lanes and alleys (the little side streets, mostly residential, off the main streets) by drivers and motorcyclists in Taiwan. This hardly exhausts the topic of bad driving here, so I may revisit the topic someday. I should note that Taiwan is not the only country with a lot of bad driving, and I've been to a few which noticeably worse. But there are also some that are, on the average, much better (Japan, for example). In any case, since this is where I live, this is the place I'd first like to see some improvement in driving habits.

1. Lanes are not highways. Just because there is no traffic in a lane or alley doesn’t mean you can drive as fast as you want. Pedestrians use these lanes. Kids often live along them. The last thing those living and working on the lane need is some idiot barreling down it like they are on the highway. If you want to go fast, go find a highway to drive on. See also 5.
2. Lanes are not for short cuts. They are not there so you can cut through on your way somewhere else. If you have no reason to be there, don’t go down it.
3. Lanes are not there to help you get around red lights. This is a corollary to 2 above. Just because you see a red light at the intersection ahead where you wanted to turn right doesn’t mean you can whip through a nearby lane to make your turn. Stay on the main road and wait for the damn light.
4. Traffic regulations apply as much or more in lanes as elsewhere. Stop signs mean stop. Just because you are on a motorcycle or your destination happens to be just a little way down the lane doesn’t mean you can go the wrong way down a one way lane. See also 7.
5. Lanes are for pedestrians, residents, and others who are going to a building located on or near it. This is a corollary to both 2 and 3. If you are just passing through, stay on the main road.
6. Pedestrians first. Cars and motorcycles have to yield to pedestrians, and pedestrians don’t have to hurry out of the way of cars and motorcycles. If they have to hurry to get out of your way, then you are going too fast (see 1).
7. Drivers and motorcycle riders who are residents don’t get to ignore the above rules. Many years ago I saw a woman who had been driving the wrong way down a one way lane trying to argue with a driver who was going the right way as more cars piled up beyond the latter. She argued that she lived there – as if being a resident somehow exempted her from traffic regulations (needless to say, in the end she had to back out to let everyone else through). If you live on the lane, fine, you get to drive or ride down it, but slowly, and you should get to the main road as quickly as you can. Better yet, get rid of your car or motorcycle and start walking, biking or taking public transportation (or some combination of the three).